Christmas! Sabbath! Christmas Sabbath?

God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen...  It's right there in the title.  We're suppose to rest.  Even in this crazy Christmas season.  Advent the time of preparation should be a time of peace and Joy and Hope, and Peace. Did I mention Peace?   Does "Silent Night, Holy Night" reflect your Christmas season?  Or is it more "12 Days of Christmas"  with shoppers (you) shopping, and wrappers (you again) wrapping, and bakers(still you) baking,  kids a crabbing, and lords a leaping (don't you just love a good leaper!)

This is the perfect time to build Sabbath into your life.  Below is my Top 10 list of how to do that!

1.  Make a list of the things you want/need to have happen for Christmas to be Christmas...let the rest go.  (Cookies...gone!  I don't need them, it was stressful for me, and my cookie baking crew is no longer local so...good bye cookies!)
2.  Ask for help.  Don't be afraid to delegate.  (Especially if you are hosting a gathering.  People are so happy it's not at their house, they're willing to do/bring almost anything!)
3.  Find AND ACTUALLY USE an Advent devotion each morning.  Get your day centered right from the start. (So many to choose from, might I suggest Luther Seminary's God Pause! (click here to subscribe to God Pause)
4.  Take a walk.  Make it a priority, NOT AFTER the "stuff" is done, but before! (I have gotten so good at leaving stuff  "'til later" that I may just give up housekeeping altogether!)
5.  Go to a mall just for the decorations and festive atmosphere.  I know it sounds crazy, but leave your wallet at home and just enjoy the sights and sounds and music.  Without the pressure of the lines and purchases to make, it is a lovely "indoor!" place to just be. Park faraway and use the walk in as your walk for the day(Think of it as your own personal arboretum, which someone decorated for you with great extravagance)
6.  Breathe.  (Please!  it really is a must)
7.  Get rid of 10 things.  (Um sorry relatives are not an option, I was thinking more like a bundt pan unless of course you make bundt cake relatively often.  In that case please drop one off...see #1!)
8.  Random acts of kindness!  Pay for the coffee of the stranger behind you in line, shovel a neighbor's walk...If you get stuck, click here for 101 ideas!  (If you're a baker drop off Christmas cookies to someone who doesn't bake any longer...um, see #1!)
9.  Sing like no one's listening. (click here to watch a Nativity reinactment of a little girl singing with abandon!)
10.  Enjoy your surroundings!  Lay under the tree and look up through the lights, walk through the neighborhood and watch for snowmen or pretty lights, be amazed by the snow, keep a running count of Christmas sweaters!


A few De-Stressing Sites

• 10 day guide
• skills you need
• time management strategies

Sabbath Rest

Don Postema says this about rest, "We all do it already-almost intuitively.  We work and we rest. We produce and we play. We cram for an exam and we celebrate.  We achieve, but then we find a way to escape: a movie, a concert...We labor and try to find an opportunity for leisure-a day off, a vacation- so we can get recharged and return to work refreshed.  And if we don't take time off, but just keep on working, we get so exhausted that our body reacts.  We become sp fatigued that we have to take a nap, or we get sick and are forced to stop."

In the book "Catch Your Breath" they go on to ask, "What is the typical pattern of your day or week?  How do you relax?  Do you find relaxing difficult? Wasteful? Guilt producing? Beneficial? Invigorating?"

I would love to hear how rest is incorporated into your life!

Thanksgiving Sabbath

Thanksgiving was great.  I kept thinking how happy I was that Thursday was not the day of the week I had picked for Sabbath.  Thanksgiving = giving thanks.  Thanksgiving does NOT= rest!
We cooked, we took a long walk, we ate, we watched football, we made cookies for the Mission Jamaica Bake sale.  It was lovely and festive and fun.  I can't imagine doing it any other way. But I started feeling guilty because it wasn't very restful.  Should Thanksgiving be restful?  I had never thought of it as necessary but now that I have Sabbath on the brain it seemed like I should be changing it up. Or should we? Yikes, I feel a little stressed trying to figure out how to make Thanksgiving happen without a flutter of activity. The thought of  NOT being busy is now making me a little anxious frankly!

I have decided that for us, it's Okay to be busy, and have a full day,
as long as it doesn't become so stressful that I'm biting the heads off of my family members. I guess that's why there is a time for everything under heaven.  Not all days are meant to be Sabbath days.  Not all Sabbath days are meant to be the same.  If you are building in Sabbath time, remember to build in variety!  And when you add Sabbath time into your schedule remember that it is meant to compliment the rest of your week, not complicate it!

I heard the voice of Jesus say, "Come unto me and rest;
lay down, o weary one; lay down your head upon my breast."

I came to Jesus as I was, so weary worn and sad;
I found in him a resting place, and he has made me glad.

                                                                - Horatius Bonar

Sabbath Does Not Equal Perfect

Saturday we grocery shopped, and I spent a good (read exhausting) chunk of time prepping meals for the upcoming week.  (Evidently that's a thing...cooking for a week in one day.  The jury is still out on whether or not I'm a fan.)   I prepared Saturday's dinner, stew for Sunday (for the slow cooker of course) and a black eyed peas dish for later in the week.  (The legume...NOT the singing group)

So Sunday afternoon rolled around and there was no stew. (Apparently prepping a slow cook recipe is not enough, one needs to put it into the slow cooker!)  But that was Okay.  I had decided that I was putting WAY too much time on the meal portion of Sabbath, and not enough focus on the other things I wanted to do to make Sabbath meaningful.  So I thought I would spend some time exploring what it means to be thankful.  I found this quote, "Practicing thankfulness is one of the most powerful ways of thinking to bring about change in our circumstances."    But then the dog needed a walk; and I had to help my son with some homework he had ignored all weekend; and had homework of my own,which I had ignored all weekend; and the kids couldn't come over for dinner (which was fine since there was no stew anyway....) Sigh.  So I will continue to ruminate on thankfulness and how it relates to Sabbath, but in the meantime, this is what I have learned...

1. Just because I have declared it a day of Sabbath does NOT mean it is a day devoid of challenges. 
2. The whole world will not come to a halt and comply with my Sabbath wishes.
3. I would have made a very bad Pharisee!

God Pause

A Mighty Fortress ... our refuge and our strength ... a very present help in trouble ... the Lord of hosts ... all are themes embedded in this beloved psalm. As notes sounded by Martin Luther in the Reformation, these words are written in the hearts and minds especially of Lutherans and others who stand in the Reformation tradition.

In the midst of this psalm is another very well-known and comforting verse. We are encouraged to take time and meditate on that precious good news of the One who is our refuge and strength, We hear these comforting words, "Be still and know that I am God." I have a friend who, before she leaves her car, spends 30 seconds in prayerful meditation before she goes to that next place in her very busy day.

In our disjointed lives, when we race from one appointment to the next, from one place to another, this simple practice can help us re-configure each of the events that make up our day. These words are most comforting. "Be still and know that I am God."

O God our refuge, help us to seek out your presence that we might find strength and comfort in the promise that you are a very present help in trouble. Amen.

Paul Herpich
Pastor, King of Kings Lutheran Church, Liverpool, N.Y.
Doctor of Ministry, 2008

Sabbath...and how it went bad

Sunday afternoon has  worked pretty well as Sabbath so far.  I work in the morning but then can call the rest of the day mine, most of the time.  This week I invited the kids over for dinner. I put a pork roast (It's a Christian Sabbath so the pork roast was fine I tell ya... fine!) in the crock pot, had steam-able bags of broccoli and an easy rice dish...  Thankfully "Sabbath" is NOT reliant on food.  The roast was boring, the Broccoli was frozen in the middle (even though I cooked it the recommended amount of time) and the rice was gummy....sigh.  It was seriously the worse meal I have prepared, maybe ever!  Luckily we ended the night with a rollicking game of  "Name 5", I did a little yoga and a devotion out of "Jesus is Calling."  I'm not sure that I'm doing anything so differently, except that in claiming that time as Sabbath, I am aware of slowing down, of reconnecting and filling my hours more purposefully.

A WAY BETTER Slow Cooker Pork Tenderloin Recipe:

Balsamic Pork Tenderloin Recipe

Print

Prep time

5 mins

Cook time

4 hours

Total time

4 hours 5 mins

Balsamic Pork Tenderloin that just melts in your mouth! This slow cooker balsamic pork tenderloin recipe is perfect for those busy weeknight supper or even special occasions!

Author: Robyn Stone | Add a Pinch

Serves: 6-8

Ingredients

• 1 2-3 pound boneless pork tenderloin
• 1 cup chicken or vegetable broth
• ½ cup balsamic vinegar
• 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon honey
• ½ teaspoon red pepper flakes
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped

Instructions

1. Place pork tenderloin into the insert of your slow cooker. In a 2-cup measuring cup, mix together all remaining ingredients. Pour over pork and set the timer for your slow cooker. (4 hours on High or 6-8 hours on Low)
2. Once pork tenderloin has cooked, remove from slow cooker with tongs into a serving dish. Break apart lightly with two forks and then ladle about ¼ – ½ cup of gravy over pork tenderloin.
3. Store remaining gravy in an airtight container in the refrigerator for another use.

Every seventh day a miracle comes to pass, the resurrection of the soul, of the soul of man and the soul of all things.  A medieval sage declares: The world which was created in six days was a world without a soul.  It was on the seventh day that the world was given a soul.   -Abraham Joshua Heschel

The Sabbath of Time and Space

The meaning of the Sabbath is to celebrate time rather than space.  Six days a week we live under the tyranny of things of space; on the Sabbath we try to become attuned to holiness in time.


- Abraham Joshua Heschel Says this: 

One of the most distinguished words in the Bible is the word qadosh, holy; a word which more than any other is representative of the mystery and majesty of the divine. Now what was the first holy object in the history of the world? Was it a mountain? Was it an altar?...How extremely significant is the fact that it is applied to time: "And God blessed the seventh day and made it holy."

This is a radical departure from accustomed religious thinking. The mythical mind would expect that, after heaven and earth have been established, God would create a holy place--a holy mountain or a holy spring--whereupon a sanctuary is to be established. Yet it seems as if to the Bible it is holiness in time, the Sabbath, which comes first...

The meaning of the Sabbath is to celebrate time rather than space. Six days a week we live under the tyranny of things in space; on the Sabbath we try to become attuned to holiness in time. It is a day on which we are called upon to share in what is eternal in time, to turn from the results of creation to the mystery of creation; from the world of creation to the creation of the world.

A Sanctuary in Time

"The Sabbath itself is a sanctuary which we build, a sanctuary in time." Joshua Herschel

Setting Yourself up for Sabbath

Okay, it's Thursday...so how am I going to set my self up for my weekend Sabbath day?
Yes I said weekend.  I have been trying to claim Sunday as Sabbath and have found that I inevitably have something scheduled, so I have declared that 1 day of the weekend will be Sabbath, which I think will work for us for the present.  I'll let you know how it works!

• 1.  Check the Calendar:  Friday open, Sat teach yoga, do art with friends with friends, 5:00  work/church. Sunday work/church... check
• 2.  Make the decision what constitutes an Okay Sabbath activity for you and your family. Yoga, paining church...all good...check
• 3.  Make a menu plan for the day: Ham dinner...check
• 4.  Make a shopping list to make sure I have supplies:  Bakers, salad mix, asparagus...check
• 5.  Choose a focus or discipline for the day:  "Jesus is Calling" devotional...check

I'll let you know if the best laid plans actually come to fruition

Be Still and Know

     The following is a way to quiet your heart, mind and spirit.  I first read about it in the book 'Catch Your Breath; God's Invitation to Sabbath Rest'  and have used it many times myself and with my yoga classes.
     As you read each line, begin to think of the phrase in it's entirety.  Notice how the meaning and images change for you.  Breathe deeply as you move from one phrase to the next.
     After you read through it once, you will be able to do this without reading and truly begin to feel the peace of this practice.

Psalm 46:10
"Be still and know that I am God!"
"Be still and know that I am..."
"Be still and know..."
"Be still..."
"Be...

The Seventh Day is a Day of Solemn Rest Ex 20:8-11

In the book "Sabbath in the Suburbs" Maryann McKibben Dana talks about the gift of Sabbath for the Old Testament Jews.  A people who had just been freed from centuries of slavery, forced to work day and night at the whim of their masters. "The Jewish observance of Sabbath is an exclamation to the world: 'We are not slaves to the empire anymore!   We are free!'"  She says, "I'm a captive too, but of a very different sort.  I feel enslaved to the type-A madness of my environment and my own soul.  I'm longing for the Promised Land. And Sabbath is my Red Sea, I'm sure of it."

To what do you feel enslaved?  Picture that which makes you the most crazy, or tense or frustrated.  Now imagine a day with none of that.  Find a way to shake those bonds and spend time in the promised rest of the blessing of Sabbath.

Busy Is The New Cool

If the world were merely seductive, that would be easy.  If it were merely challenging, that would be no problem.  But I arise in the morning torn between a desire to improve the world and a desire to enjoy the world. This makes it hard to plan the day.  -E.B. White

I work, you work, we all work.  My house needs cleaning, your house needs cleaning, all of our houses need cleaning.  I need groceries, etc. etc. etc.  Sabbath can be a moment or a breath, but I implore you to try to set a day aside.  DECLARE it yours.  I promise your house will NOT be dirtier than before.  You will find time to shop for groceries, and as far as work goes...don't be surprised if you get just as much, or even more, done because you have honored your body, mind and spirit with rest!

Slow Cooker Pumpkin Soup

Pumpkin Soup
Recipe adapted from A Year in Slow Cooking
Serves 4
Time: 6-8 hours

Ingredients
2 cups pumpkin puree (canned or fresh)
6 cups vegetable stock
2 carrots
1/2 white onion (about 1 cup chopped)
2 stalks celery (about 1 cup chopped)
2 tbsp minced garlic (about 2 cloves)
1 tbsp brown sugar (white sugar, agave, maple or honey would work too)
2 tsp kosher salt
1 tsp turmeric
1/4 tsp allspice
1/4 tsp nutmeg
pepper (to taste)

Garnish
Soup Cream (leave out to make it vegan)
Fresh basil leaves

Directions
Dump the pumpkin puree, vegetable stock, sugar, garlic and spices into your crockpot and stir. Add the chopped vegetables.
*In all honesty, you can just dump everything in the crockpot at once give it a quick stir, and let it cook. It’s soup, not rocket science.

Cover and cook on low for 6 hours.
*My crockpot cooks at a fairly high temperature, even on low, so it only took 6 hours. Yours might take closer to 8 hours. Cooking times vary per crockpot.

Blend the cooked soup in batches. This requires that you have an extra bowl handy to dump the blended soup into while you scoop the chunky soup out of the crockpot.
Add the blended soup back tot he crockpot and keep warm until ready to serve.
*If you want a creamy pumpkin soup, add 1/4 cup heavy cream while blending the soup and serve immediately.

The Gift of Rest

God graces us with rest; and as we respond with our gratitude, receiving the gift we begin to enter into tht balanced life which is our destiny as people of a loving creator. Elizabeth J. Canham. from "Catch Your Breath"

"Enough is as good as a feast"...Mary Poppins

- October 15, 2013 -    Enough for This Day When we breathe, we do not stop inhaling because we have taken in all the oxygen we will ever need, but because we have all the oxygen we need for this breath. Then we exhale, release carbon dioxide, and make room for more oxygen. Sabbath, like the breath, allows us to imagine we have done enough work for this day. Do not be anxious about tomorrow, Jesus said again and again. Let the work of this day be sufficient. Wayne Muller Source: Sabbath: Restoring the Sacred Rhythm of Rest

Just 10 minutes

Sometimes I wonder if we don't think of sabbath as a luxury rather than a necessity? Something that has to have the right setting or circumstances to fully enjoy the moment. But really, sabbath moments are pretty easy if you practice taking them. In the book Catch your Breath Thich Nhat Hahn, a well known Buddhist monk takes a sabbath breath whenever he hears a bell toll... He pauses and breathes for the length of the sound. As I was writing this the train went by, breathe....children laughing, breathe. The luxury of sabbath breathe is all around, reach out and take a breath.

Sabbath Is SO Not A Wednesday!

As you know I continue to search for the perfect Sabbath time, and day, and setting, that's really going to work for multiple schedules.  So I may still not know when Sabbath is, but I do know for sure it's not a Wednesday.  In an effort to avoid being too graphic, let me just say that my day started with both dogs, YES BOTH, showing very colorful, and repeated,  signs of having round worm.  Sigh.  Good morning Wednesday.  Sick son, but luckily not so sick he couldn't come to work with me and read.  I lost the cover sheet of my morning presentation, so had to fake it with the scribbled version on my crumpled pink note paper.  Then my actual presentation had mysteriously reverted back to size 11 font.  It's not that I'm old or anything, but I'm just saying...size 11 font is no longer my best friend, when I'm trying to glance up and down for a presentation.

Because I go to Sem on Tuesdays and Thursdays Wednesdays is my long day (12 hours) so I am working on crazy projects and papers and people, oh my!  (Okay not ALL of the people are crazy but just enough of them to remind me this is NOT the day of rest, or sanity :)

But even in the midst of this wacky Wednesday I know I have Wednesday Night Worship at the close of the day.  45 minutes of Sabbath to call my own.  Every week I am torn between reveling in the amazing worship experience and feeling heartbroken for those who couldn't attend.

Anyway the moral of this Sabbath tale is this:  Try to find even a moment of Sabbath in each and every day.  Eek it out wherever you can.

Be Blessed, with Rest!

Catch Your Breath; God's Invitation to Sabbath Rest

Join Pastor Breckenridge as she leads us through this study!!

HEY! A NEW RECIPE!

Breakfast casserole in the crock pot! 
Cooks while you sleep! 

Ingredients:
1 bag 26 oz. frozen hash browns
12 eggs
1 cup milk
1 tablespoon ground mustard
1 16 oz. roll sausage
maple, sage or regular sausage.
Salt and pepper
16 oz. bag shredded cheddar cheese

Directions:
1. Spray crock pot and evenly spread hash browns at the bottom.
2. Crack 12 eggs in a large bowl.
3. Mix well (and slowly) using a whisk.
4. Add the milk.
5. Go ahead and sprinkle in the ground mustard. This might sound like a weird ingredient, but I've come to love (and use) this in most of my recipes.
6. Add plenty of salt....
...and lots of fresh pepper. Mix well and set aside.
7. Cook the sausage on high heat, drain and set aside.

8. Add sausage on top of hash browns.
9. Is this enough cheese? Maybe? Probably. Throw the whole big bag in there.
10. Mix it up well. Or good, depending on where you're from.
11. Pour the egg mixture over everything in the crock pot. Using a wood spoon, even everything out so it's spread evenly.
12. Turn the crock pot on low for 6-8 hours.