Keeping the Sabbath Wholly: Ceasing, Resting, Embracing, Feasting

Keeping the Sabbath Wholly: Ceasing, Resting, Embracing, Feasting

<DIV>€œBut I don€t<I> wanna</I> go to church!€ Marva Dawn has often heard that cry€"and not only from children. €œWhat a sad commentary it is on North American spirituality,€ she writes, €œthat the delight of €˜keeping the Sabbath day€ has degenerated into the routine and drudgery€"even the downright oppressiveness€"of €˜going to church.€€<br><br> According to Dawn, the phrase €œgoing to church€ both reveals and promotes bad theology: it suggests that the church is a static place when in fact the church is the <I>people of God</I>. The regular gathering together of God€s people for worship is important€"it enables them to<I> be church</I> in the world€"but the act of worship is only a small part of observing the Sabbath.<br><br> This refreshing book invites the reader to experience the wholeness and joy that come from observing God€s order for life€"a rhythm of working six days and setting apart one day for rest, worship, festivity, and relationships. Dawn develops a four-part pattern for keeping the Sabbath: (1)<I>ceasing</I>€"not only from work but also from productivity, anxiety, worry, possessiveness, and so on; (2) <I>resting</I>€" of the body as well as the mind, emotions, and spirit€"a wholistic rest; (3) <I>embracing</I>€"deliberately taking hold of Christian values, of our calling in life, of the wholeness God offers us; (4) <I>feasting</I>€"celebrating God and his goodness in individual and corporate worship as well as feasting with beauty, music, food, affection, and social interaction. <br><br> Combining sound biblical theology and research into Jewish traditions with many practical suggestions, <I>Keeping the Sabbath Wholly</I> offers a healthy balance between head and heart: the book shows how theological insights can undergird daily life and practice, and it gives the reader both motivation and methods for <I>enjoying</I> a special holy day. <br><br> Dawn€s work€" unpretentiously eloquent, refreshingly personal in tone, and rich with inspiring example€"promotes the discipline of Sabbath-keeping not as a legalistic duty but as the way to freedom, delight, and joy. Christians and Jews, pastors and laypeople, individuals and small groups€"all will benefit greatly from reading and discussing the book and putting its ideas into practice.<br><br></DIV>