Sabbath report

I've decided to create my own Sabbath celebration. This came about because I was reading The Blessing of a Skinned Knee: Using Jewish Teaching to Raise Self-Reliant Children, by Wendy Mogel. She made the point that it is important to work, but also that it is important to stop working. Ah! I don't have a time when I officially do that. Mogel likened getting ready for a "rest day" to going on vacation. It's a bit of a pain to get everything organized and in order so you can leave, but the time spent on vacation is worth it.

So, being Unitarian-Universalist, I made up my own Sabbath. Mine begins at sundown on Saturday and goes until sundown on Sunday. Ideally, I will have food prepared for the week and the house in order at the start of my Sabbath.

What activities will be Sabbath approved? That answer is still coming. Ideally, I want to go to church, though that hasn't happened yet. Reading and movie watching are on the "yes" list. Going for walks? Yes. Socializing with friends? I'm not sure yet, sometimes scheduling things makes me feel trapped. Doing work around the house/in the garden/cooking? Probably not, unless that's what I really, really want to do and am not doing out of a sense of obligation.

I'll check in monthly to see how my Sabbath is going.

1/15/11

Had a candle-lit meal with Matt with vegetables and everything. Then we hung out. I worked at church for the 9:15 service, but came home and crawled back into bed for a nap and reading.

1/22/11

I cooked so there could be a Sabbath meal, but then wasn't really hungry for one, so just had some soup with Matt. We played two rounds of the game "Letters from Whitechapel" and then off to bed. Sunday I lazed about in bed and then hauled myself out to see a movie. There was a goodly amount of reading, which was nice.

1/29/11

Well, not the most relaxing Sabbath. Saturday night I had theater tickets and went to that. It was fun. Sunday I got up and delivered one round of the neighborhood newsletter. This is a task that happens quarterly and it happened to fall on a Sunday. Then I went to church, not for church but to volunteer at the Religious Education desk. This is a task that happens sporadically, but happened to happen on this Sunday. Then Matt picked me up and we saw the Vlogbrothers tour stop in Portland and went out to eat. I came home and the Sabbath was over, but I was the opposite of rested. It's made me realized how important it is to take that day. I'll make sure to carve it out next week.