A Time to Mend

Next week I begin a three-month sabbatical. That means that this week is insanely busy. Preparations need to be made. There are so many details – and yet the end is in sight.

I find that as I approach the sabbatical, it’s easy to continue to think in terms of my ordinary routines. A sabbatical can easily become a different kind of rat race in which the same idolatries go unchallenged, and in which the same need for productivity continues. My sabbatical will not be an idle time, but it will be time for a different kind of work. It’s the type of work that does not always have productivity as its goal.

Love this quote by Abraham Joshua Heshel:

…the Sabbath is not an occasion for diversion or frivolity; not a day to shoot fireworks or to turn somersaults, but an opportunity to mend our tattered lives; to collect rather than to dissipate time. Labor without dignity is the cause of misery; rest without spirit the source of depravity.

More excellent quotes on sabbath can be found here.