Sabbath for the Environment: Stop, Disconnect, Rest

Exodus, Chapter 20 – “Remember the Sabbath day—keep it holy. Six days you may labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a sabbath of the LORD your God! You shall not do any work, either you, your son or daughter, your male or female slave, your work animal, or the resident alien within your gates. For six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea and all that is in them, but on the seventh day he rested. That is why the LORD has blessed the sabbath day and made it holy.” 

When I was growing up, The Lord’s Day was easier to observe.  We went to church, had Sunday dinner together, and most of the stores were closed. The week’s activities didn’t stop, but they slowed down.  By the time I reached college in 1970, many of the blue laws banning liquor sales had lifted, more stores and restaurants were open, and families had more cars.  Life started to speed up.

Over the next decades, the pace of life quickened. Weekends often became a period of intense activity. I used the time to catch up on email, home projects, volunteer work, socializing and travel, to the point that I was often relieved to get back to work on Monday. Fierce competition in the marketplace taught me to practice a ruthless time management—make every minute count to catch up on work or move a project forward. Letting available time go without doing anything “productive” was inefficient, even lazy.  Immediate access via mobile devices and social media brought its own set of demands and obligations.

With the advent of email, the web, cell phones, texting, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Amazon, and online shopping, life has sped up to the point that there isn’t any break from work or social activity. This level of frenetic activity finally becomes soul-numbing.  There is no escaping it except to stop, unplug and disconnect.

After many years of being afraid to take the step, I decided to observe The Lord’s Day. It’s hard to stop even though I want to change. It’s scary for me to let the day unfold without planned activities. How will being in the present moment affect my focus? How will my relationship with myself and with God change?

What would happen, if several million other Christians made the same decision to observe The Lord’s Day?  If we stopped driving, buying, and turned off our computers on Sunday?  What effect would that have on energy consumption?  Would it be a Sabbath for the environment?

Like Lent, the Sabbath offers the opportunity to move towards renewing and deepening our faith rather than just “giving up” some treats or behaviors as a way of observance.  Fr. James Kurzynski, a blogger at Sacred Space Astronomy and a priest of the Diocese of La Crosse, Wisconsin offers a valuable suggestion:

“As I have been prayerfully considering how best to keep holy the Sabbath, I’m feeling moved to use my day off as an opportunity to explore my love of music and astronomy. As I shared with you in previous posts, I had a wonderful vacation in Phoenix, Arizona after the Faith and Astronomy Workshop. After hiking up Superstition Mountain and recording music in a beautiful bowl-shaped canyon, I am now inspired to relive this experience as part of my Sabbath rest. To do this, I want to combine my love for the outdoors, music and astronomy into a creative endeavor to help feed me spiritually.”

Before committing to observe the Sabbath, I thought a lot about its meaning and impact. It can change how I live my life and use my time, not only on Sunday but throughout the week. That idea fills me with some anxiety, but I’m willing to make that change.

Here is how I plan to observe The Lord’s Day:

• Participate at Mass
• Spend time outdoors
• Read
• Write in my journals and blogs
• Reflect on my use of food, water and natural resources

What I will suspend for the day:

• -Email & Facebook
• Shopping
• Household chores and errands
• Wearing a watch
• My daily “To Do” list

Additional Reading:

And God Saw that it was Good – Pope Francis

Encyclical Letter, Laudato Si, On Care for Our Common Home – Pope Francis. (Chapter Six, Ecological Education and Spirituality, VI. Sacramental Signs and the Celebration of Rest. 237.

Apostolic Letter, Dies Domini, On Keeping the Lord’s Day Holy – Pope John Paul II

U.S. Catholic – 7 Ways to Refresh Your Sabbath – Jessie Bazan

The Sabbath as a Basis for an Environmental Theological Ethic  – Michael Wood

The Sabbath World: Glimpses of a Different Order of Time – Judith Shulevitz

And On The Seventh Day: Astronomy and Sabbath Rest – Fr. James Kurzynski