Time Capsule: Rest

Today is Sunday.

When I was a child, Sunday was the day when the family was together from morning to evening. It was the day when dad didn’t go to the office, when mom didn’t clean the house or wash the clothes. She would bake a cake every Saturday, and we would eat it on Sunday afternoon. Sunday was also the day when all the shops were closed. In a later period in my life, Sunday was the day when I went to church, where I would ring the bell 15 minutes before the service began and during the Lord’s Prayer.

These times are long gone, or so it seems. I live in a big city now. The shops are open seven days a week, some of the 24 hours a day. At times, I find myself engaged in professional activities every day of the week. Is this a good thing? My mother-in-law often tells me that I work too much. I think she is right. She is right in the sense that I sometimes forget to Stop. With a big S. What helps is that I take the time to think about the projects I am participating in, the deadlines I promise to respect, and the schedule I need to be available. My day has 24 hours, and I am committed to taking breaks from “work”, i.e. professional activities. I want these breaks to be different from the active time. Rest, in Hebrew “Shabbat”, is a “time out”. It’s a moment when the soul can rest, when the eyes can look at life from a different perspective, when the hands can be idle. It’s also a time when the ears can listen to … silence?