Sabbath
Week 05: Ritual
We all have rituals. They are the rhythmic actions that mark out the special or sacred moments of life. Drinking coffee every morning before you leave for work, kissing your spouse each day when you get home, praying before a meal, tucking your kids in at night, or lighting candles and singing a song to celebrate a birthday — these are all rituals.
Rituals are repeated actions that make a moment special or different than any other moment. This is why we drink champagne on an anniversary, put candles on a birthday cake, exchange gifts at Christmas, and have fireworks on July 1. These rituals mark out the special moments of life. In fact, they’re a big part of why we look forward to birthdays, Christmas, or any other holiday. And I believe that all of the best rituals are fun!
The Jewish people had a ritual of lighting candles and saying a prayer of blessing to start the Sabbath. It is called the Kiddush. In our home, I usually say the Kiddush prayer: “Blessed are you, O Lord our God, king of the universe, who has sanctified us by your commandments, and commanded us to kindle the Sabbath lights.” And then my wife lights three candles and says, “We welcome the Lord of the Sabbath”. And then we look at each other and say “Shabbat Shalom!” It’s a lot of fun!
Practice for this week This is the last week of our Sabbath practice. We want to combine everything we’ve learned over the last several weeks and create a Sabbath plan that has rituals or things we do each Sabbath that make it feel special or sacred.
01 – Choose activities. Down below is a chart with four categories (cease, rest, celebrate, & ritual). Choose one or two activities for each of the categories that would make your Sabbath restful and life-giving. Feel free to refer to the example as needed, but make it your own.
02 – Make it fun. The Sabbath should be something you look forward to like Christmas or a vacation. Choose some rituals to make the Sabbath feel like a special day — something fun and exciting you look forward to each week. This is so important if you have kids that you are doing Sabbath with. It’s so important that its a day of delight and joy (Isa. 58:13).
03 – Keep it going. Keep the practice of Sabbath going. Maybe you want to take your Sabbath plan and put it on the fridge, have a Sabbath dinner with your family, or set apart one day a week to enjoy life and all its gifts. Exodus 20:8 says “Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy.” The word holy simply means different or special. Find a way to make each Sabbath day special — this is the power of ritual.
Recommended Resource: Subversive Sabbath by A J Swoboda
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