Sabbath moment

Then Jesus said to them, ‘The sabbath was made for humankind, and not humankind for the sabbath. (Mark 2:27)

Sabbath moment

I come here looking for sabbath, and often as not I find it. Or perhaps sabbath finds me once the scene is set.

The scene is simple enough, a desk piled with books partially read, pens and pencils askew in a desk organizer, a lamp, a candle, a computer, steam rising from a coffee cup, a small stereo from which Latin chant praises the God who meets us in common things and familiar places.

Today, sabbath time is interrupted by a familiar voice on the phone, a request, conversation, laughter, the promise to speak again soon.

The sun momentarily pokes through winter’s gray, disappearing again into a January sky.

It matters not, for warmth within offers the only sabbath the heart truly needs. Sabbath is more than rest or even quiet. Sometimes sabbath is as noisy as the laughter that filled the room ... and my heart ... as we ended the call that interrupted my silence.

Sabbath happens when the heart sinks into the well of Love hidden in the depth of one’s soul. Wholly immersed in this mysterious Love who loves us whole, gentle joy fills the heart ... knowing this Love is within us yet infinitely beyond and immeasurably deep.

Words fail, of course. For what words can encompass the Love who encompasses all and extends beyond all that is? This Love is unknowable, yet known; uncontainable, yet dwelling in the hidden depth of our souls into which we sink in sabbath moments.

Every such moment is a gift of love from the Love who invites us to seek sabbath space where our hearts can sink into their depths to receive what Love alone can give.

Love really has only one thing to give, its own dear self. Receiving this gift, we become more ourselves than we usually are.

David L. Miller