January 16, 2007

the rhythm is gonna get ya...sabbath no. 8

"All shall be well, and all manner of things shall be well."

-Julian of Norwich

I found my book. I have been participating in a blogging group. Megan, Cristopher and I have been reading Sabbath by Wayne Muller. I put it "somewhere safe" and have payed the price. But all is well now. It has been a good read thus far and the postings have been helpful as well. This is the seventh installment. I think I may have missed one in there with the strep, but that may only be fitting given the content of this chapter on rest. Here Muller is speaking about his time recovering from a debilitating illness. And in his recovery he rediscovers a rhythm to life.

I resonated with this and not because I had strep. An illness can slow me down and remind me how good it is to slow down, but where I really resonated is with the idea of a rhythm to life in general. When I lived at Richmond Hill I participated in a daily rhythm of prayer. We prayed morning, noon and evening. That rhythm was annoying at first, an obligation in the least generous sense of the word. But eventually, I found for myself solace in that rhythm. Taking a moment at noon to pray slowed me down, provided regular sabbath rest. It gave structure to my day. I am not a particularly structured person, so sometimes external structure is helpful for me.

I find the same rest in public transportation. I know. Clearly I have gone off the deep end here. But I like the rhythm. Arrive at the plat form. I wait. I get on the train. I ride. The conductor (usually automated) announces the station. "Exit on your left at Granville. Thank you for riding the CTA. Bryn Mawyr is next."...And so on. It is relaxing. I read on the train. It takes me where I need to go. I get off at my stop. I walk the rest of the way. Simple, rhythmic. No, it is not as "reliable" as monastic hours, but it has its own regularity and it feeds my soul somehow. I ride the train infrequently living where I do now. And, honestly, I miss that.

Part of my long transition into life as the full-time religious person has been about creating a rhythm for myself. That has been very difficult. But these lessons from Muller, Richmond Hill and the CTA are proving helpful. I'll let you know what I do to create that rhythm in my life.

Posted by tripp at January 16, 2007 03:50 PM
Comments

I find rhythm--hourly, daily, yearly, life--to be one very helpful way to talk about liturgy, especially for those of us in so-called nonliturgical traditions. Rhythm is something that makes sense to us and can be perceived in a tangible sense when it comes to worship. I always know when things have fallen out of rhythm, too. My life begins to feel like the wobble of a warped lp on the turntable. Which ages me a bit, I guess...

Posted by: Jen at January 16, 2007 07:46 PM

That's interesting, I never made the connection between Sabbath and public transportation before! (And I'll admit, as I read your example of the autoconductor announcement, part of my brain went "Tripp rode the train to PENNSYLVANIA??")

But I do think there's a further connection there -- perhaps it's not just the rhythm of public transpo that suggests Sabbath to you, but also the temporary turning over of responsibility for moment-to-moment decisionmaking. Of course while one is on a train one still makes decisions about where and whether to sit or stand, to look out the window, close one's eyes, read (or look like one is reading), listen to music (or look like one is listening to music), etc.

But the external moment-by-moment decisionmaking, about where to go, how fast, by what route, and when to stop, is turned over into other hands. That can be restful, as Muller suggests about turning matters over temporarily and consciously to God and the Earth.

Posted by: Megan at January 16, 2007 10:39 PM

Jen, I think all liturgies have some kind of rhythm. It would be interesting to study the so-called non-liturgical to see what rhythm is there.

Megan, I think you are likely exactly right. "Okay, now you drive!"

Posted by: Tripp at January 17, 2007 06:53 AM

I really enjoyed this book, so glad you are reading it and able to discuss it with others. My first real immersion in the meaning of sabbath came with a year of sabbatical because of illness. Now I consider it to be one of the most important practices we have, especially for those in ministry. I teach at seminaries and find most students and ministers greatly overworked and yet I think keeping Sabbath is essential not just for renewal, but for the witness it offers to others about not worshipping our 24-hour culture and acknowledging the world can get by without us for a spell. Blessings, Christine

Posted by: Sacred Art of Living at January 17, 2007 08:41 AM