Sabbath: Building a Palace in Time

“The seventh day is like a palace in time with a kingdom for all. It is not a date but an atmosphere.”

— Abraham Joshua Heschel, The Sabbath

Over 70 years ago, a Polish-born American Rabbi (who would one day work alongside MLK, Jr. in the Civil Rights movement) wrote a beautiful book that changed my life about one of the most sacred, heavenly gifts:

The Sabbath.

Obviously, Heschel wasn’t the first person to write about the Sabbath.

The first time we read this word is in Exodus 16. The Israelites are grumbling about the free food raining down from heaven every morning because get this…they would rather “have DIED in the desert” than eat this same crap every day.

Yes, seriously.

And what is God’s response to their ungrateful spirit? Let me just say, I’m sure I would have told them to get over it. To just appreciate the miracle bread of heaven.

Spoiler alert: His response is one of kindness, mercy, and grace. He blesses them with variety.

He begins sending them bread in the morning and quail in the evening; just enough to eat for that one day (up to three pounds per person per day!)

On the sixth day, they were told to gather two days worth of bread and meat to last through the seventh day. On the seventh day they were to rest, not work, and eat the food they’d gathered the previous day.

Did they listen? Of course not. Some of them still went out to gather food on the seventh day, not believing or trusting in God’s promises.

And in this first introduction of the Sabbath, the Lord has to explain that it is a gift to them.

Rest is a gift.

Having enough is a gift.

Spending time with Him is a gift.

Later in Exodus, God will write the ten commandments on a rock and “keeping the Sabbath” will come in at number 4.

But even before the Lord formalized the command with Moses on the mountain, He displayed its beauty with His beloved in the Garden of Eden.

We read that God created the world in six days and rested on the seventh because He had “finished His work.”

At some point He decided it was enough. He was finished. (And shouldn’t we do the same?)

I often picture Adam and Eve in the garden, walking around with the Lord “in the cool of the day” talking about the day’s happenings.

Maybe Eve figured out how to make a taco and she was just giddy describing it to her husband and her God.

Or maybe Adam was going on and on about seeing two otters hold hands while they napped for the first time.

And this must have been His favorite time with them, too, hearing His creation find delight in what He had made.

The Lord set the tone for this weekly gift we’re still invited to receive - rest & holy attentiveness.

This idea of the Sabbath, or rest, is not a concept we’re generally comfortable with in our culture.

It didn’t sit well with us in the 1950s when Heschel wrote his book, and it definitely conflicts with the ultra busy, always-connected culture we find ourselves in today.

For some of us, rest always feels just out of reach. Like it’s something we’ll do when everything else is done.

But then it never is.

The Lord knew this from the beginning and He chose to instill a rhythm in our nature that we could come back to week after week.

He made a way to cause us to rest in the midst of the busyness.

If taking an entire day to rest feels impossible right now, maybe start with an hour.

One hour a week to push pause and lean into rest.

The other side of the coin is this idea of holy attentiveness, or being wholly, intentionally aware of what we’re giving our attention and our affection on the Sabbath.

Who do you want to invest in? The Sabbath is a time to say “no” to the world and “yes” to the people we love most.

“Six days a week we wrestle with the world, wringing profit from the earth; on the Sabbath we especially care for the seed of eternity planted in the soul. The world has our hands, but our soul belongs to Someone Else. Six days a week we seek to dominate the world, on the seventh day we try to dominate the self.”

— ABRAHAM JOSHUA HESCHEL, THE SABBATH

From Heschel’s book, we learn that the Sabbath …

has been sanctified by the Lord, and we’re called to do the same.
is joy, holiness, and rest.
is a bride; we welcome her.
is a day of soul and body.
is a reminder of two worlds - this one and the one to come.
is tranquility, serenity, peace, and repose.
is a day of praise; a window into the eternal.
is a day to become attuned to the holiness of time.
is the day we learn to surpass civilization.
is a palace in time, meant to be rebuilt every seven days.
demands all my attention, affection, and devotion.
is a gift & a down payment of heaven.
is Spirit, in the form of time.

“Creation is the language of God, Time is His song, and things of space the consonants in the song. To sanctify time is to sing the vowels in unison with Him.”

— ABRAHAM JOSHUA HESCHEL, THE SABBATH

One of my favorite practices with Sabbath are “solo retreats” or “Jesus retreats.”

I’ve taken my fair share of solo retreats in the past, every six months or so since 2018. I typically head to big cities so I don’t feel too alone and vulnerable - northwest Arkansas, Portland, Phoenix, and Santa Fe, to name a few.

But, I decided to give this little cabin in the woods a shot a few years ago and I’m forever thankful that I did. The rest I’ve experienced here is unmatched.

After three visits at Getaway Dallas, I can now say with utmost certainty that I no longer need to fly several states over to feel as though I was able to “push pause” on life.

Being that it’s only about an hour and a half from downtown Dallas, it is the perfect little road trip, and just far enough away to clear my head before I arrive.

It’s also a fraction of the cost of my previous trips. Bonus!

The most frequent question I get regarding spiritual retreats is hands down, “But what do you DO the whole time?”

If you’re considering going on your own retreat, I would encourage you to keep a very loose agenda in mind. Maybe just ask Jesus what He wants you to “do” while you’re there.

If the point is to unplug from the busyness of life, then plug in to see what He has for you.

Turn off the phone. Don’t bring the computer.

If you need answers or direction about a decision you need to make, focus on prayer.

If there’s a book of the Bible you want to read, then make that your only agenda item. This is what I will typically do. And I love to buy these little black Bible books on Amazon so I don’t have to pack a huge Bible (although, I still do that, too. haha)

I spend a lot of time following the Spirit’s leading while I’m on the retreat. If it’s time to nap, I nap. If it’s time to play, I play a card game. If it’s time to read, I pull out my Bible. If it’s time to dance, we do that, too.

If it’s time to go on a walk, we don’t really do that cause I’d be a girl alone in the wilderness! No thanks.

I pray that you’re inspired to go on your own solo retreat someday because I know how rejuvenating they are for the soul.

But even better than a 3-day trip in the woods is the weekly practice of rest & Sabbath in our own homes.

Start small. Just one hour a week.

I promise you’ll love it so much you’ll quickly find a way to carve out more time.

Happy Sabbathing, my tired friend.