Living in the shadows.

Recently, I read this article on Sabbath and rest by one of my most very favorite musician's wife.

"Therefore, let no one pass judgement on you in questions of food and drink, or with regard to a festival or new moon or Sabbath. These are a shadow of the things to come, but the substance belongs to Christ." Paul writes in Colossians 2.

Sabbath. Rest.
It's just a taste of eternity.
And, like Paul says - it's certainly not salvation.

But for now, we're all just living in the shadows of what it really is.

The thing is sometimes - for me - Sundays aren't restful.
Like meetings that sandwich the church service.
From which a gazillion things are on my mind and to-do list.
My brain working off the charts just to keep up. Or to keep from forgetting.

Too often I fall for a cheap three-hour-nap-and-pin-a-hundred-pins rest on Sunday afternoons.
And wake up groggy and cranky. More lethargic and lazy than before.

While they're lovely, Michelle Garrell's ideas seem a bit idealistic. Too posed. Too perfect.
Too impossible.

Yet, not too long ago, I lingered around my table with dear friends after the breaking of a cookie butter cheesecake. And we talked about deep things and flowery things. Personal things and pop-culture things. But deeply rooted in the center of each of those conversations was Jesus.

And I think - just like Michelle - this is right. This is living in the shadows - the shade. 
Where it's cool and comfortable. Like drinking a glass of ice water after being parched by a long run. Where rest and refreshment are found.

So maybe it is possible.
But those moments are too few. Too far between.

How do I make them not few, not far?
And what does Sabbath, what does Shabbat look like for Protestant me?
Single, free-lancer-work-odd-hours-no-division-in-the-work-week me, without a family to keep me regimented and in a routine?

I've been asking myself a lot of questions in regard to rest, but these are two ideas that I've boiled it down to for the new year:

1. Remembering true rest is found in Jesus. And his word. Not in entertaining substitutes likes movies or social media - substances that seem brainless when in reality are not. To intentionally find an extended amount of time to spend in his Word and in prayer.

2. And also, to think through how I can implement the Sabbath evening (Friday evening) meal into my schedule. Where I can sit and laugh and be with friends and feel the freedom of a work week that's come to an end. To sit around the table hours after the meal's been finished and talk about God and his greatness. Something that will make the end of the work week.

After a year of work and wrestling, may 2015 be marked by a little rest, a little bit of time sitting in the shadows.




Soundtrack to the writing of this article provided by Zach Winters.