Well, apparently my nice gas stove has a “Sabbath Mode”!
Frustrated by a stove top burner that wouldn’t work, I turned to the instruction manual. (Yes, when all else fails, and only then, read the instruction manual!) Before finding the solution to my particular problem, I noticed that the stove has a “Sabbath Mode” that allows a cook to set timers/parameters and start cooking with minimal hands-on attention. It is apparently an option prepared for people who organize their kitchen work well ahead of time and/or who faithfully observe “the Sabbath.” (And, no, I don’t care whether one observes a ‘traditional seventh day rest’, Saturday, or a more recent choice used in honor of the day of Christ’s Resurrection, Sunday).
I was surprised to see the formerly religious term, Sabbath, used for an appliance feature. Our culture doesn’t have a secular equivalent to “Sabbath Mode”. There is no form of rest that most of one’s peers actually respect. Weekend mornings, no longer for worship, are now filled with children’s birthday parties and baby showers or for errands and the always-elusive goal of “catching up”.
We seem to not be aware that a rest is a good thing. We are proud of being overextended and exhausted — even competitive about it. We may seek sympathy from our peers for our exhaustion while “humble bragging” about how vital our “busyness” is to the world. Ironically, we may be bragging to the very people with whom we compete to show how vital we and our busy efforts are to the world. Our humble bragging (or “complaining”) may actually inflame their desire to show they are even MORE busy and important! It’s a “self-biting” cycle of unrest.
Do I have (or even want) a Sabbath Mode? Do I find a way to change my pace, catch my breath, think deeply and without panic about any one thing? When raising our kids and working full-time, I made some attempts at practices that would give me some perspective (if not rest). I got everyone up and dressed for church (right, not exactly “a rest” for a mom with 3 kids born within 5 years of each other), journaled often, and did “walk ‘n talk” (exercise and our own kind of ‘talk therapy’) occasionally with a girlfriend or two. But I remember experiencing an “acid wash” over everything — just too tired, over-extended, and dehydrated to enjoy or re-balance our lives. I had not yet learned “refusal” or “boundary” skills to help me resist over-activity; to make matters worse, I naively picked up some responsibilities dumped by others. I did not know how to stop when an activity did not feel right. I thought I should press on and not rest.
It is easier finding and creating a Sabbath Mode now that I am older. I wish I had heard those early voices (including the Fourth Commandment, “Honor the Sabbath and keep it holy”) telling me to go for balance! Sabbath creates perspective and allows for refreshment. The late Gwen Ifill of Washington Week and the PBS NewsHour, a hero of mine for her brilliance, wit, and hard work, once reflected that if she missed church on a Sunday, she would begin to feel “flat” by Tuesday. Me, too — if I go without Sabbath rest and refreshment via church and music on the weekend, I can become discouraged and lacking in perspective by early in the week.
So, set up your Sabbath Mode — or several small “sabbath modes” during the week — and enjoy a new sense of refreshment and perspective. May we seek and accept God’s gifts of rest, balance, and wisdom.
Susan Olmstead Wang 