Sabbath (or) Holy Rhythm, part XIV

Sabbath (or) Holy Rhythm, part XIV

Richard M. Wright

“It’s just another manic Monday.” – The Bangles

I am at times mildly embarrassed by the fact that our wedding anniversary is smack bang in the middle of Lent. As much as Armetta and I dearly loved Ithaca Baptist Church in Upstate New York, that church family paid almost no attention to the Christian calendar. Lent? What’s that? Let alone Palm Sunday, Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, Pentecost, Trinity Sunday, Christ the King Sunday, All Saints Day, the season of Advent, Transfiguration Sunday, Ash Wednesday, and so on.

In other words (except of course for Easter Sunday) every Sunday was pretty much the same. One could (after a small dose of helium) warble, “It’s just another okay Sunday”. There was little sense of journey because we never were anywhere in particular or going anywhere in particular.

And except for the academic calendars for Cornell University and Ithaca College – at least half the church family was academics/students – there was little sense of rhythm.

In his book Spiritual Friend: Reclaiming the Gift of Spiritual Direction Tilden Edwards describes the physical and social rhythms that are both within us and all around us. He suggests: “This rhythm is one for which the Church is peculiarly accountable. Indeed, along with other religious bodies it is the only institution in society that can be expected both to understand it adequately and to provide leadership for its implementation” (71). He then offers this significant challenge:

One group of behavioral scientists… goes so far as to say that assistance in the management of this rhythm is the Church’s primary task in the society, and if it fails, the whole society, including those who have nothing to do with the Church directly, suffers greater division, sickness, illusion, and injustice. (ibid.) [emphasis mine]

This is a significant claim. Helping people navigate the rhythms of life is one of the most important things that the Christian community does. And if we fail at this all of society suffers.

Some might scoff that the seasons of the Christian calendar – along with using the lectionary – are too antiquated and inflexible for a modern, progressive church. Our society/culture would not understand. But the seasons – the rhythms – of the Christian year might be precisely what our society/culture needs most.

One of the most basic forms of rhythm is keeping Sabbath. Otherwise every day is the same. Dare we say that every day becomes “manic” – because there is no day on which we can rest, play, pray, simply be without our value being determined by what we accomplish/earn/spend/produce.