Taking Time for just Being: An Interfaith Way of practicing SABBATH

Excerpts from my presentation tonight
for Cabrini "Continuing Education" program:

TAKING “SABBATH” as a way of RESTING IN GOD

SABBATH ORIGINS:

JEWISH: Out of Genesis 2: SABBATH in over 25 passages in Hebrew and Christian Scriptures
Exodus, Leviticus and Deuteronomy: The 10 Commandments

CHRISTIAN: Jesus, the Gospels & the Sabbath: His Practice of Going away to rest & pray ;
Practicing Compassion; Love your neighbor as you love yourself

ISLAM ... Koran enjoins the sabbath in over six passages
HINDU ... From the Upanishads ; festivals in India and Bali call for a day to turn off all power.
BUDDHIST ... meditation, communally and individually, discplines the mind and renews body


SABBATH TOOLS:

· Commit weekly to a time of 1-3 hours, a half day or full day – outside of Mass -
· In solitude or shared with a loved one
· Try “fasting” from electronics of any kind
· Feast on what else there is that is life-giving around you
· Begin by Lighting a Candle(s) … to connect with Tradition
· Place keys, phone, TV controller, etc. and petitions in a Sabbath box
· Bell or Gong (or alarm, if you must) to begin and end your sacred time
· Sacred Space or Altar with icons, images, mementos lead you into Sabbath rest
· Book of reflections or prayers which leads you to your Inner Sanctuary
· Walking stick or binoculars … to encounter Nature out your front door
· Favorite prayer practice or Scripture/Poem – for centering, grounding in rel. with God
· Musical instrument (or favorite quiet background music /guided meditation CD)
· Silence is your friend and can be a companion … leading you to deep self and to God with you.
** Whatever sensations or emotions arise in the time for Being, once attended to, will grow you, like a garden, winter into spring.

SABBATH RESOURCES & BOOKS:

Sabbath: Finding Rest, Renewal, and Delight in our Busy Lives by Wayne Muller
The Sabbath by Abraham Joshua Heschel and Susannah Heschel
Solitude: A Return to the Self by Anthony Storr;
Thoughts in Solitude by Thomas Merton
Out of Solitude: Three Meditations by Henri J. M. Nouwen
Resting in God: Guided Meditations for Everyday Life (Audio CD) by Tim Malone

FOR MORE INFO ON SPIRITUAL DIRECTION
AND UPCOMING RETREATS/ SEMINARS:

www.Ignatiancenter.org ; www.TimMalone.org