“The idea is that you switch on your life”

Gus Silber has a terrific post titled “Wait, Slow Down, Stop: the Power of the Shabbos Project” which is really worth reading. We took part in the Shabbos Project last year, didn’t do it last week and I’d like to be part of it next year, perhaps. We’re not particularly observant (although that is changing a little here and there) but there is definitely something about taking a day to step outside our busy weekends to live better. As Silber put it so well:

But the world doesn’t turn anymore, it spins, like a record played at the wrong speed, and the breathless, pulsating distractions can drive you to distraction.
But the idea of the Sabbath – and how nice is the word that springs from it, Sabbatical – isn’t just that you switch off your machines. The idea is that you switch on your life.

Weekends are rarely rest days anymore. We always seem to have somewhere we need to be, things we need to do and we’re exhausted, not refreshed, by Sunday evening. Returning to work on a Monday morning has become a break from the weekend. Shabbos is an opportunity to disengage from everything that takes us away from living more meaningfully and spending quality time with our friends and family.

It’s tempting to do it every week but then again, when would we get everything done?