Tag Archives: Rest

Chapter-a-Day

Safe Harbor, Even Amidst the Storm

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There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God…
Hebrews 4:9 (NIV)

As a child, my family would vacation every year at a family resort on Rainy Lake on the boundary waters of northern Minnesota. During our two-week vacation there was typically one day when the entire camp would all get in our boats like a big flotilla and head to a designated spot on the lake. Everyone would fish together, then cook up what was caught in the morning in a big shore lunch on one of the lake’s many islands. There would be more fishing in the afternoon before everyone returned to camp.

One year when I was still quite young, a violent afternoon storm rose unexpectedly. I and all of the younger children was placed in the largest boat for safety as we slowly made our way back to camp in very stormy seas. My father was alone in his john boat behind us and I still remember the fear of watching the bow of his boat climb high in the air as if it was about to flip completely over, then disappear below the next giant wave.

I was never so happy to return and dock at our camp’s safe little cove.

The Greek word used for “rest” in today’s chapter, katapausis, was used in Greek literature to describe safe harbor at the end of one’s travels. Meditating on that brought back my memory of that day on the lake, the storm, and the return to safe harbor. As I continued to meditate on that experience, the truth is that I experienced different layers of katapausis in the event.

On a grand scale, I was experiencing rest simply from being on vacation. Those two weeks were a climactic event every year when the normal grind of daily life gave way to two weeks of fun and adventure. On a micro-level, the adults’ decision to put me and the other children in the giant boat was shelter within the storm. I was never in fear for myself on that long boat ride through the stormy seas, just for my dad and the others in their little john boats. And then, there was the rest that came when we arrived at the safe harbor at the end of our voyage.

In today’s chapter, the author of Hebrews applies a similar layered approach to the theme of Sabbath rest. There is the original Sabbath rest that came at the finished work of God’s creation. He then alludes to the physical “rest” God intended for His people in the Promised Land, a promise His people refused to enter in their unbelief. There is then a spiritual “rest” that Jesus offers “Today” as shelter amidst the violent daily storms that arise unexpectedly on this earthly journey. There is also an eternal rest to which we look forward entering when this earthly journey is finished.

Jewish rabbis say “One who keeps Sabbath tastes a portion of the world to come.” I love that. As a disciple of Jesus, Lord of the Sabbath, and indwelled by His Spirit, that “taste” is readily available at any and every moment – even as shelter and safe harbor amidst the storms of life.

The author then reminds us that this “rest” is made available through Jesus, who suffered the same storms, suffered death, rose to Life and returned to the eternal safe harbor I will one day reach. In the meantime, there is “rest” available even as I strive to make my way there. The author reminds us to “approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.

Mercy for the wounds of yesterday.
Grace for the worries of today.
Rest for the weary tomorrow.

Praying you experience the shelter of His rest amidst your stormy seas today, my friend.

If you know anyone who might be encouraged by today’s post, please share.

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Chapter-a-Day

Best of ’24: #6 When Rest Becomes Work

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For two weeks, while Wendy and I are away enjoying some warm weather, I’ll be counting down the top ten chapter-a-day posts of 2024 (based on total views anIt’ s always interesting which posts resonated with readers and listeners. The chapter for tomorrow’s post will be listed at the bottom.

Jesus withdrew with his disciples to the lake, and a large crowd from Galilee followed.
Mark 3:7 (NIV)

Wendy and I are in the process of selling our place at the lake. For those who know us and for those who have followed my blog for any length of time, this may come as a surprise. “The Playhouse” has been a part of my family for over 25 years, and for the past 15 years it has been regular place of retreat, refreshment, and relationship for ourselves, our family, and many, many friends. The featured image on today’s post is our final farewell to the Playhouse as we moved things home.

The truth is that Wendy and I have been praying about the end of this season in our lives for a few years. We’ve talked about it with friends, but circumstances consistently told us that it wasn’t time. This summer, we once again prayed in earnest whether it was time and everything rapidly fell into place in a way that told us the time was right.

One of the themes that God weaves into the Great Story from the very beginning of Genesis is the blessing of rest. God creates everything in six days, and on the seventh day He rests. Then, in the book of Exodus when God through Moses prescribes how His people should live and conduct themselves, He emphasizes rest in multiple ways on multiple levels. This was a radical idea. For 400 years God’s people had been slaves in Egypt without a day off. Now God prescribes that they need a day off every seven days. In fact, whether you’re a believer or not, you can thank God every weekend because the weekend was born when the Roman Emperor, who was a Christian, followed God’s prescription and declared that everyone in the Roman Empire gets Sundays off.

In today’s chapter, Mark’s choice of scenes reveals several things. Jesus’ teaching and miracles are drawing huge crowds from all over. Word has spread and people are traveling from far away places. Between the crowd scenes, Mark shares that Jesus “withdrew” from the crowds. Once He withdrew to a lake. Another time He withdrew up a mountain. What that tells me is that Jesus knew He needed rest from the crowds, the teaching, the miracles, the exorcisms, and the chaos of His Miraculous Mystery Tour.

But Mark plants another seed when he begins by telling the story of Jesus teaching in the synagogue. Jesus challengers, who I wrote/talked about in yesterday’s post/podcast, have now become His outright enemies. No longer simply challenging Jesus, they’re seeking a way to accuse Him, discredit Him, and bring Him down. So, they lie in wait to see if Jesus would perform a miracle on the Sabbath day of rest. Because the good religious fundamentalists had deemed that performing a miracle was work.

Mark says that this “angered” Jesus, and He was “deeply distressed at their stubborn hearts.” Why? Because they had perverted and profaned the plan. The Sabbath, which had been prescribed as a blessing of rest, had been transformed into a burden in which people had to expend time, energy, and resources to track and follow all the rules that had been made around it. What was meant for rest became work.

Which brings me back to our place on the lake. As Wendy and I prayed and discussed it over this past spring and summer, we realized that things had changed. What was meant to be, and used to be, full of retreat, refreshment, and relationships had slowly become a burden on multiple levels. And, the opportunity arose to pass it on as a blessing to others in answer to their prayers

So, in the quiet this morning I’m reminded that the prescription for rest remains. Like Jesus, Wendy and I need to find our new places to withdraw and find retreat, refreshment, and relationship amidst the chaos of work and worry. We are excited for the new season ahead. And, in the wake of a long and wonderful Thanksgiving weekend, I’m also grateful as I think about what a blessing God has woven into the plan of creation in prescribing, and exemplifying, regular periods of rest.

Tomorrow’s Chapter: Romans 9

If you know anyone who might be encouraged by today’s post, please share.

These chapter-a-day blog posts are also available via podcast on all major podcast platforms including Apple, Google, and Spotify! Simply go to your podcast platform and search for “Wayfarer Tom Vander Well.” If it’s not on your platform, please let me know!

Chapter-a-Day

When Rest Becomes Work

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Jesus withdrew with his disciples to the lake, and a large crowd from Galilee followed.
Mark 3:7 (NIV)

Wendy and I are in the process of selling our place at the lake. For those who know us and for those who have followed my blog for any length of time, this may come as a surprise. “The Playhouse” has been a part of my family for over 25 years, and for the past 15 years it has been regular place of retreat, refreshment, and relationship for ourselves, our family, and many, many friends. The featured image on today’s post is our final farewell to the Playhouse as we moved things home.

The truth is that Wendy and I have been praying about the end of this season in our lives for a few years. We’ve talked about it with friends, but circumstances consistently told us that it wasn’t time. This summer, we once again prayed in earnest whether it was time and everything rapidly fell into place in a way that told us the time was right.

One of the themes that God weaves into the Great Story from the very beginning of Genesis is the blessing of rest. God creates everything in six days, and on the seventh day He rests. Then, in the book of Exodus when God through Moses prescribes how His people should live and conduct themselves, He emphasizes rest in multiple ways on multiple levels. This was a radical idea. For 400 years God’s people had been slaves in Egypt without a day off. Now God prescribes that they need a day off every seven days. In fact, whether you’re a believer or not, you can thank God every weekend because the weekend was born when the Roman Emperor, who was a Christian, followed God’s prescription and declared that everyone in the Roman Empire gets Sundays off.

In today’s chapter, Mark’s choice of scenes reveals several things. Jesus’ teaching and miracles are drawing huge crowds from all over. Word has spread and people are traveling from far away places. Between the crowd scenes, Mark shares that Jesus “withdrew” from the crowds. Once He withdrew to a lake. Another time He withdrew up a mountain. What that tells me is that Jesus knew He needed rest from the crowds, the teaching, the miracles, the exorcisms, and the chaos of His Miraculous Mystery Tour.

But Mark plants another seed when he begins by telling the story of Jesus teaching in the synagogue. Jesus challengers, who I wrote/talked about in yesterday’s post/podcast, have now become His outright enemies. No longer simply challenging Jesus, they’re seeking a way to accuse Him, discredit Him, and bring Him down. So, they lie in wait to see if Jesus would perform a miracle on the Sabbath day of rest. Because the good religious fundamentalists had deemed that performing a miracle was work.

Mark says that this “angered” Jesus, and He was “deeply distressed at their stubborn hearts.” Why? Because they had perverted and profaned the plan. The Sabbath, which had been prescribed as a blessing of rest, had been transformed into a burden in which people had to expend time, energy, and resources to track and follow all the rules that had been made around it. What was meant for rest became work.

Which brings me back to our place on the lake. As Wendy and I prayed and discussed it over this past spring and summer, we realized that things had changed. What was meant to be, and used to be, full of retreat, refreshment, and relationships had slowly become a burden on multiple levels. And, the opportunity arose to pass it on as a blessing to others in answer to their prayers

So, in the quiet this morning I’m reminded that the prescription for rest remains. Like Jesus, Wendy and I need to find our new places to withdraw and find retreat, refreshment, and relationship amidst the chaos of work and worry. We are excited for the new season ahead. And, in the wake of a long and wonderful Thanksgiving weekend, I’m also grateful as I think about what a blessing God has woven into the plan of creation in prescribing, and exemplifying, regular periods of rest.

If you know anyone who might be encouraged by today’s post, please share.

Chapter-a-Day

Chaos and Order

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Chaos and Order (CaD Ezk 40) – Wayfarer

The man said to me, “Son of man, look carefully and listen closely and pay attention to everything I am going to show you, for that is why you have been brought here. Tell the people of Israel everything you see.”
Ezekiel 40:4 (NIV)

For the past quarter of a century, our family has had a place on Lake of the Ozarks in Missouri. My parents bought the property around the time of retirement. The girls grew up there along with their cousins visiting Grandpa Dean and Grandma Jeanne. Wendy and I purchased the property from them and built a new house on it. It’s been a special place for us, our family, and friends.

In fact, our family long ago realized that our place at the lake was sacred space. It has been a place of rest away from the chaos of our everyday lives. It has been a place of healing and restoration. It’s where my sister retreated to recover from chemo in her battle with cancer. It has been a place full of life as children have grown up, families have vacationed, and relationships have been strengthened through countless conversations that would never have happened in the hectic worlds of our lives back home.

Over the next several chapters, the prophet Ezekiel describes a vision he was given of a sacred space, a temple. When this vision arrives, it has been fourteen years since the city of Jerusalem and the temple that Solomon built had been destroyed. Ezekiel and his fellow Hebrews are living in exile in Babylon. They are feeling lost and hopeless in the chaos of life in a foreign land where nothing is familiar. The rituals and routines by which they lived and measured life are gone. They are longing for hope and a future.

For casual readers, today’s chapter and the next several chapters are the kinds of passages that leave you scratching your head. Wait. What?! What can this ridiculously detailed description of an ancient temple possibly have any significance for my life in the twenty-first century? One of the things that I’ve come to learn about these kinds of passages is that I have to back up and look at the bigger picture of what God has done, is doing, and will do.

For the Hebrew people, this sacred space of a temple was not only a huge part of their story a people, but it was also a metaphor for the Great Story itself. Way back in Exodus when God is first introducing Himself to the Hebrews, He instructs them to create a mobile sacred space that could travel with them and be set up wherever they camped. The language that was used in the creation of this sacred space mirrored the creation poem in the first two chapters of Genesis. The creation poem begins with chaos and God creates order out of the chaos and then places humanity in this ordered place that is very good.

When God gave the Hebrews instructions for this sacred space they understood that it was like a new creation. An entire nation of people leaves the chaos and chains of slavery, they wander into the wilderness, and God is creating something new in them. What does God do in creation? He creates distinctions and order.

I have to believe that Ezekiel and his compatriots were recognizing that they had returned to chaos and slavery. They are longing for the hope that God will begin a new creation in them just as He had done in Genesis and in Exodus when He brought order and sacred space.

Everywhere I turn, people talk about lives being busy, crazy, frazzled, and hectic. There’s so much to do, so many distractions, and so much stress. Life happens and we feel worry and anxiety. How often do I feel the chaos of everyday life? And yet, Jesus said He came that we might know peace. What did Jesus do? He regularly went up a mountain by Himself where he would spend hours and sometimes spend the night praying. He sought out sacred space and spent time with God where He reordered His heart, mind, and soul.

Do you think that this ancient, recurring message about creating order out of chaos and having sacred space to order my life and world might have something to teach me about my chaotic twenty-first-century life today?

If you know anyone who might be encouraged by today’s post, please share.

Chapter-a-Day

“The Weight”

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"The Weight" (CaD Matt 23) – Wayfarer

They tie up heavy, cumbersome loads and put them on other people’s shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to lift a finger to move them.
Matthew 23:4 (NIV)

Some mornings as I read the chapter, I’ll have a thought that pops into my head and I can’t let it go. Something resonates and I’m not sure exactly why. When this happens, I’ll often sit with it to see where it leads me.

This morning, as I read Jesus describing the way the religious fundamentalists leading the Temple “tie up heavy, cumbersome loads and put them on people’s shoulders” the Band’s classic song The Weight popped into my head.

I decided to chase the rabbit and read up on the song’s origin. Robbie Robertson described it as a fairly simple parable (my word, not his). Fanny sends the person to Nazareth (not the Biblical Nazareth, but Nazareth, PA the home of the Martin guitar factory) just to say “hi” to everyone there. When the person arrives, they have a string of interactions (the verses of the song) in which people ask something of them. What started as a simple “say hi for me” turns into the burden of a host of expectations from others.

Today’s chapter is one of the most intense in the Great Story. The escalating conflict between Jesus and the religious leaders comes to a full boil and Jesus goes off on the most heated message of condemnation that is recorded. It’s always been a good thing for me to remember as a follower of Jesus: Jesus approached sinners with compassion, it was the religious fundamentalists in His own tribe that He most vociferously condemned.

And why?

Jesus’ rant begins by describing the way the religious leaders “tie up heavy, cumbersome loads” on the people. That’s where Jesus’ condemnation begins.

Along my spiritual journey, I have spent short stretches of the journey in fundamentalist groups of Jesus followers. It was simply a modern version of what Jesus experienced with the religious leaders of His day. Rules that have rules to explain the rule, along with exceptions to the rule, which have subsequent mandatory rules attached to it so that the exception does not end up breaking the original rule.

I remember realizing as I walked with one of these groups for a time, that my peers were religiously and doctrinally dutiful, but they were spiritually immature. Their faith was reduced to following rules, keeping up appearances, and pledging unwavering allegiance to every jot and tittle of their group’s doctrinal statement. I also observed how burdensome this became for the members of this group.

Just a few weeks ago, I had a conversation with a friend who escaped such a group. “When I applied myself to follow every rule and be the most upright person in the group, the heavier my heart became.”

I remember one dear friend who joined a similar group of Christians. He came to tell me one day that he was cutting off our relationship and that I would never hear from him again. His group was the only ones who were right and the only ones who would make it on Judgment Day. He then informed me that I stood condemned to hell and he was required to tell me of my error, my condemnation, and never speak to me again if I didn’t join his group. To this day, I wonder how many individuals he had to have that conversation with to appease his religious leaders. Poor guy. What a burden that must have been for him.

In the quiet this morning, I guess my rabbit trail has led me to remember that Jesus’ specifically said that He came to give me rest, not more burden. “My way is easy,” He said, “and my burden is light.” He said that there were only two rules for His followers and that if I apply my heart and soul to follow those two rules then everything else would fall into place.

Jesus’ rant against His religious enemies is only sealing His fate, and He knows it. They won’t stand for dissension. They must cling to their power and authority at all costs. That’s the way the system works. They now bear the burden of conspiring to commit murder to preserve that system.

Jesus will bear the burden of my sin when they execute Him…

…that through the power of His resurrection I might “take the load off.”

If you know anyone who might be encouraged by today’s post, please share.

Chapter-a-Day

Rest Sans Rule-Keeping

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Rest Sans Rule-Keeping (CaD Ps 92) – Wayfarer

They will still bear fruit in old age,
they will stay fresh and green…
Psalm 92:14 (NIV)

It’s the first full week of a New Year, and this morning marks the official end of the holidays. I’ve so enjoyed this Christmas and New Year’s having our kids home and celebrating our wedding anniversary. My soul is full.

I found some synergy this morning in the fullness of Spirit I feel coming out of the holiday season and today’s chapter, Psalm 92. This ancient Hebrew song lyric was a “Sabbath” song. Sabbath is the weekly “day of rest” which God commanded of the Hebrews. It’s number four in God’s Top Ten list of commandments given through Moses.

After the Temple had been destroyed by the Babylonians, the Who’s Who of Hebrews had been forced into exile in Babylon. There, without a central place of worship, the Hebrews were forced to find ways to keep the faith without a physical location of worship. The result was that both their study of “the Law” (in layman’s terms that would be the first five books of the Great Story or Genesis through Deuteronomy) and keeping the Sabbath day became cornerstones of the faithful.

After the exiles returned and the Temple was rebuilt, the Sabbath continued to increase in importance. By the time Jesus arrived on the scene some 500 years later, the Sabbath had ceased to be a day of rest and celebration. It had become a burdensome, endless list of things you couldn’t do unless you wanted to be called out by religious busybodies and even face possible corporal punishment. That’s what human religion does; It takes a spiritual principle meant for health and well-being and reduces it to a burdensome list of rules used to determine who’s naughty or nice, who’s good or bad, who’s righteous or wicked, who’s in and who’s out.

Along my spiritual journey, I’ve learned to shun religious rule-keeping and seek those things that promote Life and Spirit. What I’ve learned is that there is a crucial difference between religious rule-keeping and spiritual discipline. I shun the former while fully embracing the latter.

Yesterday, Wendy and I attended worship with our local gathering of Jesus’ followers. We did so, not because we felt we had to but because we desired to do so. We’ve established a discipline over time of joining to worship with other believers because it refreshes our souls to worship corporately, to regularly connect with friends and loved ones, and to be spiritually challenged and encouraged. It’s part of the spiritual rhythm of our lives.

As I read the chapter this morning, I found that the overall vibe of Psalm 92’s lyrics matches the spirit of rest, community, friendship, and worship I experience each week. It promotes our spiritual health and has led to “fruitfulness” and keeping our souls “fresh” and “green” as prescribed.

In the quiet this morning, I find my mind and spirit ready to head into a new work week and a new year. The rest and time with family have been so good. God knows I need regular rest to recharge my bodies, my mind, and my spirit – not as religious rule-keeping, but as physical and spiritual rejuvenation.

Chapter-a-Day

The Mystery of the Missing Word

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The Mystery of the Missing Word (CaD Ps 62) – Wayfarer

Selah
For God alone my soul waits in silence,
for my hope is in him.
Psalm 62:5 (NRSVCE)

For most of my life journey, I have spent the beginning of my day in quiet. It helps that I have been a morning person my entire life and am typically the first one awake in the house. It has allowed me to create a spiritual rhythm. Each morning it’s just me in my home office. The neighborhood is silent. The household is silent. I am silent.

You may not know it, but silence is endangered in our world. There are a niche of audio artists and recording specialists who endeavor to capture the simple, pure sounds of nature sans the noises of technology and human civilizations encroachment on it. They complain that their jobs and their passion are made increasingly difficult.

Noise is everywhere.

In my podcast series The Beginner’s Guide to the Great Story I used three words to guide one’s journey through various sections and genres of ancient text that make up the compilation we call the Bible. The three words are:

Metaphor
Context
Mystery

This morning’s chapter led me into mystery. Bear with me as I lead you through it. I typically read each day’s chapter in The St. John’s Bible, the only handwritten and illuminated copy of the entire Bible produced in the last 500 years or so. I love it. It’s beautiful. It is a transcription of the New Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition (NRSVCE…By the way, I explain why there are all these different versions in The Beginner’s Guide to the Great Story Part 2). I will usually then switch and read the chapter a second time in the translation I’ve been most accustomed to for the last thirty years which is the New International Version (NIV). Something was missing:

Selah

In the illuminated manuscript of the St. John’s Bible the word “Selah” was written in red ink along the right margin between verses four and five. In the NIV the word was missing altogether. It was left out.

The game’s afoot, Watson!

Selah is, in and of itself, a mysterious word. The Hebrew language is thousands of years old and it was largely lost to the world for a long time. The result is that there are some Hebrew words that the most knowledgable scholars of the Hebrew language can only shrug their shoulders. The meaning is mysteriously lost to antiquity.

The editors of the NRSV translation chose to leave the mystery in the text.

The editors of the NIV chose to eliminate the word for their readers rather than try to explain it or allow me to consider it.

What a shame. Because mystery is part of the on-going journey of the Great Story, and words are literally metaphors. These squiggly lines made by pixels on my screen are just that. They are lines, symbols that my brain instantly turns into phonetic sounds which make words which are layered with meaning. And, as I continually remind myself, mystery is that which I can endlessly understand (Thank you Fr. Rohr).

It is popularly speculated that the word Selah was some kind of musical rest or pause because it always appears in the middle of musical lyrics such as the Psalms or the poetic work of the prophet Habakkuk. While this is pure speculation and educated guess, what modern wayfarers journeying through the Great Story have done is to find a layer of meaning in the letters and sounds of the word Selah.

I read:

For God alone my soul waits in silence,
for my hope is in him.

But when I consider that the word Selah might very well mean to actually stop, pause, rest, wait a second, or as The Passion Translation chooses to say: “Pause in God’s Presence” then the verse takes on added meaning:

Selah (Pause in God’s Presence)
For God alone my soul waits in silence,
for my hope is in him.

In a world of endangered silence, with ceaseless noise of humanity encroaching on me 24/7/365, I find this morning that I need the mystery of Selah, even if the metaphor is purely a layer of meaning I have chosen to attach to it in the endless understanding of possibility.

My spirit needs the pause.

Waiting. Silent. I hear the still, small voice of Holy Spirit.

Love. Peace. Joy. Hope.

Selah.

Chapter-a-Day

David’s “Seven Steps”

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David's "Seven Steps" (CaD Ps 4) – Wayfarer

When you are disturbed, do not sin;
    ponder it on your beds, and be silent.
Psalm 4:4 (NRSVCE)

Not long ago I happened to be talking to a friend who experienced the tragic death of a child. As we talked, I asked how he was doing in the process of grief. He honestly shared with me some of the havoc that grief had wreaked in everyday life. He then shared about conversations he’d had with others who were walking the same, difficult stretch of life’s road. One, he shared, had been drinking heavily. He then confessed that he had been over-indulging his appetite for sweets every night.

“We all have the same grief. We cope in different ways,” he said. “My friend medicates with one appetite. I medicate with another.”

Along this life journey, I’ve observed and experienced that it is a natural human reaction to want to self-medicate by indulging our appetites whenever we encounter a difficult stretch of the journey. It could be one of the “ugly” social taboos like alcohol, drugs, gambling, smoking, or sex. It could equally be an unhealthy indulgence in what’s considered a normal appetite, like that to which my friend confessed: over-eating, over-sleeping, over-spending, over-exercising, binging on screens, or isolation. I’ve even observed those who have become zealously over-religious in an attempt to feel some kind of control over out-of-control emotions, circumstances, and relationships. Twelve Step groups often teach members to be aware of negative feelings that often trigger appetite indulgences. They use the acronym S.A.L.T. (sad, angry, lonely, tired).

In today’s psalm, King David expresses his frustration with finding himself the object of public ridicule and scorn, especially among the socially elite power brokers in his world. He begins his song imploring God to listen to his prayer, he then lays out his troubles and frustration.

What happens next is a Hebrew word: Selah. Scholars believe that this was a musical notation calling on there to be a “rest” in the song.

David then reminds himself that God has called him to be faithful, and reminds himself that God has repeatedly answered his prayers.

Then comes the verse I pulled out and quoted at the top of the post:

When you are disturbed, do not sin;
    ponder it on your beds, and be silent.

It is followed with another Selah.

I couldn’t help but notice that the pattern of David’s lyric is a really great reminder of how to approach troubles, anxieties, fear, grief, sadness, anger, loneliness, or weariness. Not the Twelve Steps, but the Seven Steps:

  1. Take it to God.
  2. Get it out, express it, be honest about your feelings.
  3. Rest. Take a deep breath.
  4. Remind myself of God’s faithfulness and promises.
  5. Avoid my natural inclination to exit and indulge my favorite appetite as an escape hatch of the negative emotions.
  6. Be silent. Ponder. Feel.
  7. Rest. Breathe.

The final lyrics of the song are a testament to David discovering a “gladness” in his heart that is better than feasting and drinking. Certainly healthier than over-eating and over-drinking.

Just as with yesterday’s psalm, David ends up with a peaceful night’s sleep.

In the quiet this morning I find myself accepting the fact that, despite 54 years on the journey and almost 40 years of following Jesus, I still have very human struggles with responding to negative emotions and circumstances in healthy ways. What I have learned, however, is that I have to allow myself the grace to be human. I also have learned to surround myself with companions who love me unconditionally, are honest with me in my weakness, and never cease to encourage and support me in the process of growing.

It’s a journey, my friend. It’s about progress, not perfection.

If you know anyone who might be encouraged by today’s post, please share.

Chapter-a-Day

Sabbath

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Sabbath (CaD Ex 31) – Wayfarer

“[The Sabbath] is a sign forever between me and the people of Israel that in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day he rested, and was refreshed.“
Exodus 31:17 (NRSVCE)

One of the things that becomes really clear when you read through the Moses story is the emphasis that God placed on the idea of what’s called Sabbath. It’s one of God’s Top Ten rules and God keeps bringing it up, over and over again, and reminding the Hebrew people how important it is to knock off work every seven days. In concept, Sabbath is really pretty simple. The Creation story at the very start of Genesis describes God as having created the universe in six days. Then, on the seventh day, He took the day off and got some rest. Easy. Work six days, then take a day off. Get some rest. Be refreshed.

I have always scratched my head at what a sticking point Sabbath has been for people ever since. I mean, just a few weeks ago Grandma Vander Hart reminded me that God doesn’t want me mowing my lawn on Sunday, and she was quite serious. She also has a thing with tattoos, but that’s a post for another day.

When I grew up, my family were regular church attenders and sincere about God in a general sort of way. Going to church on Sunday was pretty much a given. We had rote prayers for family meals and bedtimes. During Christmas or Lent, mom might make us do the family devotion prescribed by our church which always felt a little awkward. The religious thing was always there, but it wasn’t a pervasive part of life. Sundays were always a restful day. After church mom usually made brunch, and then the rest of the day was spent chilling out. We kind of did Sabbath by default but nobody got uptight about it.

After becoming a follower of Jesus and becoming exposed to the traditions of other families and churches, I learned that this “Sabbath” thing was something certain churches and denominations took very seriously. Mothers prepared all of the Sunday meals on Saturday so they wouldn’t have to work. But that didn’t make sense because they still had to warm it up, serve it to the family, and clean up afterwards. So, I guess women still had to work, but less. I had friends tell me that they literally sat around in their living room with their family doing nothing. Some of them even had to be quiet. Maybe they got to read, but some couldn’t watch television because that meant you were making someone else work to entertain you and that was considered “conspiracy to commit Sabbath-breaking” in their religious code.

As I started to try and study and understand it, it got so confusing because the 7th day of the week was prescribed as the Sabbath. We read it again today! I knew my Jewish friends treated Saturday as “church day” but all the Christian churches I knew treated Sunday (which is the first day of the week) as the Sabbath day. When I asked about this I was told that when Jesus rose from the dead on Sunday, the Sabbath changed to Sunday in the Christian tradition, but I knew for a fact that wasn’t anywhere in the Bible. After the resurrection, there’s not one shred of evidence that Jesus said, “Hey boys, we’re going to make an official Sabbath switch.” In fact, the record states clearly that the Twelve continued to follow all of the Hebrew traditions. So, these same people who were being ultra-legalistic and literal about obeying the Sabbath weren’t literal or legalistic at all about obeying the Sabbath on the only day prescribed for the Sabbath in scripture!

Sabbath confusion and conflict has been around forever. It started with the Hebrews and Moses and it was still causing conflict when Jesus showed up. Jesus was perpetually hounded by the religious leaders about keeping the Sabbath. If Jesus healed someone on the Sabbath He got in trouble. If His disciples picked a fig off a tree as they were walking by He got in trouble. And each time it came up, Jesus brushed it off. In fact, He made a point of healing someone on the Sabbath just to make it clear to the religious fundamentalists when He said: “The Sabbath was made to help humans. Humans weren’t made to serve the Sabbath.”

And, in the quiet this morning I’m reminded that this was the point. The Hebrews in Moses’ day had been slaves for hundreds of years. They never got a day off. The concept of a day of rest was foreign to them. They were an agrarian people with farms and livestock, and it’s easy to become a workaholic when there are fields and animals that need constant tending. When you’re so focused on your work all the time, you have very little physical, mental, or spiritual energy left. It’s unhealthy on multiple levels. What did Jesus say were the two commands from which all the others flow?

  1. Love God with everything you got. But if I’m working all the time then God ends up getting little or nothing from my depleted body, mind, and soul.
  2. Love others as you love yourself. But, if I’m working all the time then I’m really not loving myself well, and everyone around me gets nothing of me but what meager leftovers of self I have left.

I’m also reminded of observing how the legalism and fundamentalism I experienced early in my spiritual journey created really sad, angry, and bitter people whose lives, and even their worship, appeared to me to be void of anything close to resembling peace, love, or joy. I observed that what it did create were people driven to keep up religious appearances in public while sneaking around doing what they shouldn’t in secret.

This is exactly what Jesus came to free us from. And Sabbath is a great foundational lesson. It’s easy. We each need regular rest, relaxation, and relationship with our fellow sojourners on life’s road. We need to stop work for a day and fill the life tank with a good meal, some meaningful conversation, playing together, laughing together, and sharing of life together. Sabbath is about lifting the burdens and the drudgery of everyday life, not adding to it.

And, speaking of Sabbath, it’s the 4th of July holiday weekend coming up here in the States. Wendy and I will be doing a little extended Sabbath, exactly as I just described, with a couple of other families who are dear friends. So, I’ll be taking a few days off of blogging.

I hope you experience some Sabbath, as well, my friend. And, experience it in the fullness of the way God always intended it. Cheers!

If you know anyone who might be encouraged by today’s post, please share.

Chapter-a-Day

Jesus and the Religious Rule Keepers

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Then he said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.
Mark 2:27 (NIV)

As a child, I did a lot of walking and playing outdoors with the kids in my neighborhood. The neighborhood around the 3100 block of Madison Avenue was pretty much a virtual playground for us. I still remember who lived in most of the houses on our block and several of the houses on the blocks around us. We knew all of the “shortcuts” between garages, through fences, and how to quickly both get to other places and to disappear in need. We also knew the quickest routes, by foot or bike, to the woods, creeks, and green spaces that surrounded our neighborhood.

As we would play tag, hide-and-seek, or walk to the woods, I can remember nonchalantly playing with whatever plant I happened to walk over or past. Dandelions could be turned into a woven bracelet, and their dead blooms could be blown to the wind as a natural form of confetti. The leaves from corn plants in people’s backyard gardens could be held tightly between your thumbs like a diaphragm and made to make the most unusual noises when you blew through the hole between your thumbs. Of course, apples, cherries, and other fruit could be picked as you walked by for a quick snack. If you could spot one, a four-leaf clover was always a must-grab for luck in our next game of Freeze Tag, T.V. Tag, or Kick-the-Can.

What struck me in today’s chapter was the fact that, as Jesus and his followers were walking, “they began to pick some heads of grain.” Of course, they did. They were no different than me and my neighborhood friends as we walked through a neighbor’s yard. If you’re on a walk and you walk through a field your hands naturally reach out and caress the heads of grain to feel the softness across your hand. Your hand unconsciously closes around one and your fingers rub the grain loose from the head. You let the chaff fall from your palm or blow it like the natural confetti of a dandelion. You pop a grain into your mouth without thinking much of it. I learned as a child that interacting with creation as you walk through it is as natural as breathing.

How silly, then, that the religious people of Jesus’ day thought the natural act of picking heads of grain to be breaking “the Sabbath.” The “Sabbath” day was simply a day of rest each week. It follows God’s example in the creation poem in Genesis. God creates the universe in six days and then takes a day off. God later told His people in the Ten Commandments: “Do just like I did. Work six days, but make sure you take a day off, a sabbath.” The rule was meant to help perpetuate a healthy life. I need sleep each day. I need a day off each week. I need a few weeks of vacation each year. It’s part of the healthy physical rhythm that promotes mental and spiritual health, as well.

Along my life journey, one of the things I’ve observed is that religion likes to translate spiritual principles into strict, prescriptive rules of behavior. I remember one Bible college a friend of mine considered attending desired that their students stay sexually pure, so the rule was that if a member of the opposite sex is sitting in a chair and vacates it you must allow time for the chair to cool from that person’s body heat before you sit in it. I wish I was making that up. Without the rule, I would have never even thought about residual female body heat on a classroom chair. The legalistic rule intended to keep me “pure” actually ends up creating the illicit thoughts it was intended to prevent. The religious rules intended to ensure that I keep the spiritual principle actually become more perverse than the sin it’s trying to keep away from. It’s a perfect illustration of what Paul told the followers of Jesus in Rome in his letter to them:

The law code started out as an excellent piece of work. What happened, though, was that sin found a way to pervert the command into a temptation, making a piece of “forbidden fruit” out of it. The law code, instead of being used to guide me, was used to seduce me.

Read Romans 7:8-12 (MSG)

So, let me come back to today’s chapter. Jesus and the disciples walking through a field casually picking off a head of grain. The legalistic, religious rule keepers confront Jesus and point to the behavioral rules they’ve manufactured to give clarity to the earlier code of conduct which was born out of the one rule God gave them in the Ten Commandments in order to adhere to a spiritual principle of making sure you get some rest and stay healthy.

Jesus, in reply to the religious rule enforcers, simply points out an exception to the rule that those same legalistic rule enforcers chose to ignore (e.g. “You’re condemning me for doing the same that King David and his men did, but I don’t hear you condemning him.”) Jesus then cuts to the heart of the matter: the Sabbath was made as a principle of rest to help give you have a good life and keeping your heart, mind, and body healthy.

In the quiet this morning I find myself thinking of all the ways I once adhered to religious legalism. I confess, there was so much about what Jesus was teaching and getting at that I didn’t get at all. But, that was my journey. I had to walk through those stretches in order to learn, fail, struggle, persevere, grow, and mature in my own heart and mind. As the old hymn says: I was blind, but now I see. I have come to perceive that I, as a religious person, can be more spiritually blind than the “sinner” I believe that I am trying to save.

In this season of Lent, as I walk towards the annual memorial of Jesus’ death and celebration of His resurrection, I can’t help but think of the confessed thief hanging on the cross next to Jesus. The confessed sinner went with Jesus to paradise while the religious rule-keepers, who condemned and had Jesus executed, stood there hurling insults and condemnation at Him. They were blind, as I once was. Even Jesus said in those moments as he looked down at his executioners and the good religious rule-keepers condemning him: “Father, forgive them. They have no idea what they’re doing.”

I’m left thinking that this wayfaring stranger would rather hang on a cross, a confessed sinner next to Jesus, than religiously stand in condemnation of others for their breaking of the rules that were addendums to the previous code of conduct, which were additions to the one ancient rule, which was originally intended as a principle to spiritually guide people to Life.

I think I’ll go for a walk today. No dandelions out yet to blow to the wind, but I can pick a few leaves, and just maybe a four-leaf clover.

Anyone up for a game of kick-the-can?