Today was much calmer training than yesterday. Yesterday we did a hostage simulation; today we practiced Sabbath rest. Yikes. Night to day. One day in a box with 11 others, loud gunfire around you, bombs going off, tough choices about who’s to live or die. In the end “the rebels” took me out and shot me and three others in the back of the head. I knew it was make-believe. But with a gun at my head, face planted on the concrete floor, and a loud bang… it felt like hell. all that made my life flash before me and eternity camp in front of me.
Today we focused on the need to obey the Sabbath commandment. We don’t wake up and say, “gosh, I can’t murder anyone today!? Jeez. And no adultery too?!” We accept it. It’s the old normal. But with the Sabbath, we cheat routinely and think nothing of the flagrant foul. Sabbath rest involves saying frst a NO and then a YES. Today most of us fail to say no to usual and customary work--AND we fail to savor the goodness of rest and play (that God knows) we need to refresh our bodies and mind.
It used to be in our grandparents’ day, “the holy Sabbath,” in our parents, “Sunday;” and now, "Finally Friday!" This is the new normal. So today we were encouraged to listen, obey for the safety and sanity of our souls, and rest refreshed one day out of seven. A Jewish prime minister once said, “The Jews haven’t kept the Sabbath; it has kept them.” Can we be kept too?
The cost of this failure to listen dulls my ability to hear God in the silence--because I have none. I'm reminded of the saying, "Silence came a long way today to visit with me, but I was otherwise engaged." Sabbath rest and play come once I habitually say no to work and noise. In the quiet that follows that "NO" to noise, then I can hear my calling, savour the Saviour, and learn the unforced rhythms of grace.
1 comment:
Whoa. Hostage training. Then Sabbath. Missing our Monday morning breakfast, Vance. Keep these posts coming. Especially liked that definition of busy. I needed that. Thanks, you two. Ken
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