FROM THE PASTOR
Cultural Sabbath & Cultural Reengagement
Prior to the pandemic, I don’t know how long I’ve heard the sentiment, “I wish I had more time at home.” Often it came from over scheduled families who may not get uniforms washed between games as they chase around from one field to another. Folks welcomed “rain-out” weekends or snow days that provided a break to catch up on laundry, cleaning and organizing, planting or lists we tend to keep on the counter for “when we have time.” When I hear all of these requests, I often would relate and then move into a space of, “wow, we all need some sabbath.” A time with God. Downtime to dwell in grace and mercy.” Well, it happened. We have had an abundance of that kind of time. And yet, all we want is to leave the house. Ironic how that works…
Over the time I have spent at home social distancing and in quarantine, I have come to think about this time as a cultural sabbath. American culture is one that is on the move all the time, getting ahead in the next thing and perhaps overbooking ourselves leaving little time to be… be a family, be a child of God, be outside, be home, be in the presence of God.
A handful of people have told me, “Sorry, I prayed for this…” it is their humor of wishing they had time at home to be a family, get house projects done, enjoy their garden, to have a slower pace. So now that you have experienced it, what are you doing with it?
Were you able to experience the sabbath that you craved? Once things opened up again, were you first in line to re-engage or have you been hanging back not wanting to let go of the sabbath time at home?
I wonder if after this time of quarantine, where all group events are cancelled or postponed, how many of us ran into that strung out pace that left us exhausted and overwhelmed in the first place. And how many of us will think twice before we say yes to so many things and remember how nice it was to be home without running off the next thing, forgetting what it was like to have a home cooked meal as a family and a commute from the home office to the kitchen table. Don’t get me wrong, the routine of “normal and predictable” will be welcome, but what have we learned in this time of cultural sabbath where we are all called to pause, think, discern and evaluate.
While the pandemic has lasted longer than any of us initially anticipated, we are on a cusp where our younger children will be able to be vaccinated. Will this change anything for your household? The next step is to begin the re-engagement process.
How will you reengage in community life at St. Luke’s? How will you live a life of faith that calls us into engagement into the community through love? I can’t wait to see what is coming to St. Luke’s as we, as a community, engage in new and different ways after experiencing a cultural sabbath like no other…
Peace,
Pastor Sally
