And the Lord spoke unto Moses saying, “Verily ye shall keep my sabbaths for it is a sign between Me and you throughout your generations, that ye may know that I am the Lord who sanctify you…..”

In Abrahamic religions, the shabbat/sabbath is a day of rest and worship. For Jews, the commandment for keeping shabbat a day of rest is repeated many times in the Tanakh. For Christians, it is stressed in Exodus 31:12-17. Christians interpret it as a general day of rest– free from work. Jewish law is much more prescriptive, identifying 39 activities prohibited on Shabbat: planting, reaping, writing, tearing, igniting a fire, and applying the finishing touch– to name a few (more here).

Wherever we find ourselves on the continuum of orthodoxy and fundamentalism to non-believing, for sure we all need time to nurture the soul– that nebulous, incorporeal realm of the self. In the western world, gone is the common day of rest. However, consider scheduling a day of rest, when you don’t leave your house, don’t create or make anything; when you reflect, appreciate, express gratitude, and goal set… even if the day of rest is not a Saturday or Sunday. Today, we are resting– sitting and admiring the above view of fall foliage in Greensboro– and expressing gratitude for your visiting our blog.