The Sabbath by Abraham Joshua Heschel
"The Sabbath is the presence of God in the world, open to the soul of man." God is not in things of space, but in moments of time. How do we perceive God's presence?
Keeping the Sabbath Wholly by Marva J. Dawn
"Activity that is enjoyable and freeing and not undertaken for the purpose of accomplishment qualifies as acceptable for sabbath time."
- Muller, Wayne. Sabbath: Finding Rest, Renewal, and Delight in Our Busy Lives, reprinted Bantam, 2000.
- Heschel, Abraham. Sabbath. Noonday Press, 1996
- Dawn, Marva. Keeping the Sabbath Wholly: Ceasing, Resting, Embracing, Feasting. Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1989
God is Closer Than You Think by John Ortberg
Now let's get very concrete. If we want to spend a regular, ordinary day of our life with Jesus, what would we actually do? How do we go about trying to receive each moment as a sacrament, a God-charged sliver of grace? This is what we need to remember at the outset: Spending the day with God does not usually involve doing different things from what we already do. Mostly it involves learning to do what we already do in a new way---with God.
Actually, the first task of the day is to go to sleep. In Western culture we think of a day beginning when the sun comes up or when the alarm clock goes off or when Starbucks opens. But the ancient rhythm of days is different. In the creation account, the order is always the same: "And there was evening and there was morning---the first day." Each day in creation begins with evening. In Jewish life, the Sabbath begins not at sunup but at sundown. Eugene Peterson notes that in this way the biblical writers help us to remember: Everything doesn't depend on me. I go to sleep. God goes to work. It's his day. The world keeps spinning, tides ebb and flow, lives begin and end even though I am not there to superintend any of it. God is present when I sleep:
In vain you rise early
and stay up late,
toiling for food to eat---
for he grants sleep to those he loves."
