Chapter 2: Resisting Anxiety

[Nicole]

The crux of Breuggemann's argument here (I think) is that the commandment to take Sabbath was never intended as a holier-than-thou, personal piety that results in things like bans on dancing and drinking on Sunday; instead, he's saying that the practice is profoundly countercultural and a resistance to the pressures of a society that would have us working/doing/producing all the time. I'm wondering just what we actually need to change in our lives to make real Sabbath a possibility in this culture?

[Maria]

it's like when you're at the gym: if you don't rest, you tense up, pass out, or just drop out

[Maria]

it's a built in design I think: to pause, then move again: then we can have appreciation for work as we are ready again and refreshed: the sabbath is on Sat anyhowz lol

[Nicole]

True, Maria. I started doing triathlons in the last couple years and they consider the "day of rest" as important as the work out. It's literally the only way to build muscle. Our bodies are wired for that rhythm.

[Maria]

question: how far it triathalon? swimming : biking: I used to run a LONG time ago / that will be the tough part!

[Jo]

This is such a great discussion. I love the idea of pausing and how it applies in a work out. It also applies in music, right? The pauses can make an impact in the music.

[Maria]

Yes, it not only impacts, but it is the music. I'd rather say, it allows the expression to be both sides of the coin that music exerts. Sound, silence. It gives time to breathe. It allows for necessary restoration in the body and especially the mind. I'm sure the hearer would agree. : )

[Darrin]

I have had some music teachers that have told me to "play the rests" ...

[Maria]

nice: but I like to enjoy the silence!
I stole that from a colleague's door today!

[Maria]

nice: but I like to enjoy the silence!
I stole that from a colleague's door today!

[Jo]

I grew up being very uncomfortable with silence, but the older I get the more I have come to appreciate and to value silence. In fact, I have more and more come to understand how vital it is to creative imagination and reflection.

[Maria]

That is true for me also about silence being awkward sometime earlier in life because we are influenced by the constant activity and seemingly inferred social cue that we are supposed to be doing something. I find it very playful and also artful to stop, then continue or even alter. It's so much more interesting and fun to tease a listener with anticipation provided by lack of sound. You know, playing with animals or small children is very similar. One doesn't usually provided constant stimulation or the same exact hum drum motion or voice tone to communicate..or at least effective communication. Yes, I like your reference to silence being uncomfortable which reminds me of all the times I thought I might be in trouble or not loved because of cold thundering silence. it can in that instance leave open negative thinking which is also not necessarily true or accurate, yet considering my early church life, there was plenty of second guessing or rules that had to be kept or I somehow wasn't good enough... to even be. Lord have mercy on anyone living under those constraints. God is much kinder than human made simpleton retractions that reflect human minds, not the God Mind. We tend to construct God in our image I've noticed. Thank God, the Image is becoming clearer!!! In part from you and many others here at UCC Ext. , StMs, and faith walkers here and abroad. Peace y'all! Grace abounds. mc2

[Nicole]

I had never thought, before now, about the observance of the "rests" in music as connected to the practice of silence. I sometimes sing in choirs and the rests are always the hardest. You always want to just plow through them and get to the next note. So true of life, too.

[Darrin]

I am living without cable TV right now, just internet. Which means more silence, and I am loving it.

[Nicole]

Getting rid of cable was a good thing for me, too, Darrin. I still watch lots of TV (I have Netflix and Hulu Plus, but somehow it makes me a little more choosy about what I spend time watching.

[Maria]

I've dropped TV lately : it's much better with out it! I can hear Netflix in the house from Loraine's iPad & sometimes TV but it's one of those time wasters for me and steals my creative time.. I guess it's kinda interesting what we get into habit or focus on.. we tend to do that over and over: or at least my ocdish patterns are that way.. so if it's music and praying and gym, then it sort of stays that way.. if it's couch TV brainless shows, it's a rut .. for me so I'm staying away from those: although sometimes a good football game or goofy rugrats episode is so comforting : and the occasional romantic drama or European flick is just the thing to unwind.. on rare occasion.. but the longer I live the less I want to spend time watching fiction!

mc