tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4844458687369955274.post4058050000006633507..comments2018-07-15T00:14:54.349-07:00Comments on mapHead: Sabbathnatcasehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18058664776852941599noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4844458687369955274.post-14729297366271667032010-08-25T21:00:22.157-07:002010-08-25T21:00:22.157-07:00Lynx636 asked me to post an additional line to her...Lynx636 asked me to post an additional line to her comment, as blogger was giving her fits:<br /><br />For a Christian perspective, see <a href="http://www.fbcvilonia.com/sermons/luke/devotion.htm" rel="nofollow">this sermon</a> on Luke's story of the sisters Martha and Mary, on the website of the First Baptist Church of Villonia, Arkansas. (Isn't the Internet grand?) : D<br /><br />Thanks Lynx...<br /><br />This topic just keeps deepening for me, touching on all sorts of things that pop up (or fester) in my life.natcasehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18058664776852941599noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4844458687369955274.post-30772732346697489752010-08-25T14:22:08.501-07:002010-08-25T14:22:08.501-07:00I have thought a great deal about the issue of har...I have thought a great deal about the issue of hard work as salvation. I think it is a meme that has moved from Puritan to secular culture. Americans, at least those of my Germanic heritage, tend to view work and "busyness" as extremely positive, even necessary for personal honor and self-esteem. In my last "real" job, at a large and well-respected educational institution, people were ever in crisis, racing from one vital job to another. There was no time to rest! We were fighting the good fight!! Burnout and stress-related health problems were rampant. I myself suffered enormous anxiety and depression, as well as a nice bout with Bell's Palsy and a crazy time when my appendix burst at work. I found myself unable to give enough to that job to make things work out, and this was of consuming personal importance to me; I was lost and ashamed without the validation of my work. One day, I joked darkly to my boss that I felt like standing on the street corner holding a sign that said, "Will Work for Self-Esteem". I have come to believe that I am a workaholic, and the harm in that is no joke. It is sometimes called "The Urgency Addiction". Stephen Covey comments on the unreal expectations of our day in his 1997 book, “First Things First”. Covey writes, “People expect us to be busy, overworked. It’s become a status symbol in our society – if we’re busy, we’re important; if we’re not busy, we’re embarrassed to admit it. Busyness is where we get our security, It’s validating, popular and pleasing, It’s also a good excuse for not dealing with the first things in our lives.” . The Buddhist practioner Geleck Rinpoche says that he observes a certain special laziness in Westerners. Asian laziness, he quips, is merely lying around, doing no work. And a lazy person does not make any effort toward spiritual improvement. But Westerners often live in what Gelek calls "busy laziness". See his essay at http://www.thebuddhadharma.com/issues/2008/fall/fire.php . He writes, "Many of us complain, 'I have no time.' I like to call that a good, fancy, stylish excuse. Everybody likes to say, 'I’m too busy,' because everybody would like to seem important. It is a great excuse that offers several benefits: you can avoid what you don’t want to do; it gives you a showbiz idea of being important; and all the important people do it, so you can include yourself with them." His point is that too much work is as bad as too little. We are often so darn BUSY with our lives and projects that we ALSO never find the time to devote to spiritual practice. See also the book by Wayne Muller, "Sabbath: Finding Rest, Renewal and Delight in our Busy Lives". http://www.amazon.com/Sabbath-Finding-Renewal-Delight-Lives/dp/0553380117/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1282353984&sr=1-1Lynx636noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4844458687369955274.post-77439135509473311612010-08-21T20:31:50.729-07:002010-08-21T20:31:50.729-07:00Marshall: Thanks. I find this is similar (as Barcl...Marshall: Thanks. I find this is similar (as Barclay himself notes) to Calvin's take on Sabbath.<br /><br />I have been remiss in skimping the early Friends writings. I need to read Barclay <i>in toto</i>, I think.natcasehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18058664776852941599noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4844458687369955274.post-62796924725190653722010-08-21T04:08:39.294-07:002010-08-21T04:08:39.294-07:00For the early Friends the Sabbath was not a day of...For the early Friends the Sabbath was not a day of the week, but a condition of peace given by God.<br /><br />As to the popular equation of the first day of the week with the Sabbath, Barclay wrote in his <i>Apology</i>, Prop. XI §iii, that “we are not against set times of worship...: only these times being appointed for outward conveniency we may not therefore think with the Papists that these *days* are holy, and lead people into a superstitious observation of them, being persuaded that all days are alike holy in the sight of God.”Marshall Massey (Iowa YM [C])http://journal.earthwitness.org/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4844458687369955274.post-23251038298636359392010-08-19T00:05:35.375-07:002010-08-19T00:05:35.375-07:00Here is the RantWoman perspective on why what star...Here is the RantWoman perspective on why what started out as a proposal for a "sabbath Year" ended up as a "Year of Discernment."<br /><br />http://rantwomanrsof.blogspot.com/2009/12/discernment-rocks.htmlRantWomanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17611656459134372290noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4844458687369955274.post-69975450884807275902010-08-18T22:53:49.477-07:002010-08-18T22:53:49.477-07:00I love your description of worship.
I am not real...I love your description of worship.<br /><br />I am not really in a position to say more than you have written about the concept of Sabbath among early Friends, but when my Meeting was feeling as yours does, someone suggested a "Sabbath Year."<br /><br />There is something with the RantWoman take on why Discernment rather than Sabbath, but RantWoman is having no success finding it.<br /><br />but here is what came out of the discussion, a Year of Discernment.<br />http://blogofdiscernment.blogspot.com/RantWomanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17611656459134372290noreply@blogger.com