Subversive Sabbath: The Surprising Power of Rest in a Nonstop World

by A.J. Swoboda

During an appointment with my counselor, Raymond, he taught me how to listen to my body as a way of helping me discern how my spiritual life is going. He suggested that the first place where the by-products of my false worship and idolatry will reveal themselves is in my body—increased blood pressure, headaches, and exhaustion. Raymond taught me how to listen to, and respect, my body’s cry for sleep, good food, and quiet. The body is a good thing to listen to. It knows me best. The body God has made knows what it is doing. The problem remains: we rarely listen to it. My body, Raymond explained, is a kind of prophet in my life, telling me what I most need to hear. Raymond calls this the “sovereignty of the body.” As a theologian, I am reluctant to think of anything as sovereign other than God. Still, I have come to understand his point. Our bodies know what they are doing and remain apt communicators. They tell us what we need to hear when we need to hear it. Rather than ignoring exhaustion, hunger, pain, and anxiety, we should pay attention to it and ask ourselves what our body is speaking to us. The body speaks clearly. It is God’s gift to speak truth to us.