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1 " It is not presumptuous to ask, 'What is it that you see in me that brings you delight? "
― Dan B. Allender , Sabbath
2 " Hope is not mere optimism; rather, it is moving forward in anticipation of redemption in spite of the improbability of rescue. "
3 " Time has become a precious commodity and the ultimate scarcity for millions of Americans. A 1996 Wall Street Journal survey found 40% of Americans saying that lack of time was a bigger problem for them than lack of money.”6 "
4 " The only parameter that is to guide our Sabbath is delight. Will this be merely a break or a joy? Will this lead my heart to wonder or routine? Will I be more grateful or just happy that I got something done? "
5 " Speed is the ultimate defense, the antidote to stopping and really looking. If we really saw what we were doing and who we had become, we feel we might not survive the stopping and the accompanying self-appraisal. So we don't stop, and the faster we go, the harder it becomes to stop. "
6 " We are not to work on the Sabbath because it takes us out of the play of joy. It is as bizarre as making love to your spouse, but getting out of bed during the process to cut your lawn or wash dishes. Such an offense would do far more than spoil the mood; it would be a direct assault on the integrity of joy, announcing that a mundane chore is more pleasurable than sexual joy with your spouse. "
7 " Jesus, the fullness of God and man, is the full perfection of humanity, and he calls us to a humanity that is full and alive, without flaw or fault. "
8 " To enter the realm of play, we must give ourselves to something or someone and turn away from all else. It is both a pledge and a betrayal. "
9 " What might it look like if we lived as if we will not be endlessly divided from those who have brought us harm and whom we have failed as well? "
10 " The Sabbath is a party, and what is a good party without a drinking song? Almost all the early John Wesley hymns were sung to what at the time was wild pub music. "
11 " Abundance is not about possession; it is utterly, completely, and solely about gratitude. "
12 " A gift that has the power to change us awakens a part of the soul. But we cannot receive the gift until we can meet it as an equal. We therefore submit ourselves to the labor of becoming like the gift. Giving a return gift is the final act in the labor of gratitude, and it is also, therefore, the true acceptance of the original gift.' There is a burden of gratitude that, if it is not returned, will crush our spirits or splinter them. But we don't give to get rid of the burden; we must become like the gift in order to give it in its fullness. "
13 " We are to free the slaves because we were once slaves. Sabbath is a remembrance of the stale bondage of Egypt and the fresh air of our new garden given to us because of the faithfulness of God's covenantal love, not due to our capacity to make God happy. Yet God is more than happy with us — he adores us and lavishes us with freedom and joy. "
14 " Action is never enough if defined as eradicating the problem. Action is always enough if it is faithful to the call of the moment. "
15 " The Sabbath is not a vacation; it is a grateful celebration. Who are you celebrating? To whom do you owe your life, your current taste of re-creation? Who marked you with kindness that has enabled you to offer care in return? Who has scarred you with heartache that has enabled you to enter the wounds of others with grace? We are called to bless those who love us and those who love to do us harm. "
16 " Joy must be chosen, but the deeper conundrum is that it can't be controlled or cajoled as to when it will come or how long it will stay. "
17 " We live in a day when our sense are so dull that we need extreme sports, bingeing, or dangerous pastimes to give us a sense we are alive. We crave reality — both pain and pleasure — so much that many young people cut themselves, saying, 'I just wanted to feel something. "
18 " We will never know Sabbath delight unless God delivers us from drowning in the noise and grime of our soiled days. "
19 " Time, that which is beyond and independent of space, is everlasting; it is the world of space which is perishing. Things perish within time; time itself does not change. We should not speak of the flow or passage of time but of the flow or passage of space through time. It is not time that dies; it is the human body which dies in time. Temporality is an attribute of the world of space, of things of space. Time which is beyond space is beyond the division in past, present, and future.8 If Heschel is correct, time doesn’t have to be redeemed or used or stolen or made or spent; instead, we are called to submit to time as the medium in which we live.9 Time is simply to be breathed like air. "
20 " It is not wrong to petition God on the Sabbath, but the heart of the Sabbath is to delight in all he has given us, rather than to ask for what has not yet been fulfilled. Prayer on the Sabbath might well fit into the categories of praise or invitation. "