Ancient Israel was expected to observe sabbath years (every 7) and jubilee years every 50. Those years were meant to allow for the release of slaves, cancellation of debt, return of property to tribal/clan ownership and rest for the land with the fields left fallow. Whilst those laws were specific to Israel and so notContinue reading “Fallow Ground”
Tag Archives: rest
Climbing the Career ladder
We’ve been talking about work and rest. One of the things that affects work is the drive to climb the greasy pole to the top of your profession. There is an inbuilt expectation that people must progress higher up into management. In fact, promotion is rewarded and those who are content where they are, areContinue reading “Climbing the Career ladder”
Work Matters
I’ve been writing about the importance of rest over the past week or two but we cannot talk about rest without talking about work. It is that point which influenced my last article on the matter. In that article, I responded to a question about why we do not give enough attention to the partContinue reading “Work Matters”
Do pastors need their own sabbath?
Many pastors have something in their contracts to the effect that they should take one complete day off each week. Funnily it often sounds like this is an obligation on them rather than what it is in fact which is provision for them! It is sometimes suggested that this is to be their sabbath. Now,Continue reading “Do pastors need their own sabbath?”
Sabbath Rest -Do we need to keep Sunday special?
When I was growing up, there was still a strong emphasis on keeping Sunday as a special day, the Christian Sabbath. In a lot of church cultures, the expectation was that you attended church at least twice, wore your Sunday best and that activities during the day were limited to those considered spiritually edifying. SundayContinue reading “Sabbath Rest -Do we need to keep Sunday special?”
Lessons in lockdown 2: Busyness and effective, hard work are not the same
I will put my hand up and say that I am one of those people who found a lot of lockdown beneficial. I’m not saying that I wanted to be in lockdown or that I would repeat it. Nor am I denying that it was simply awful with no redeeming features for many. However, followingContinue reading “Lessons in lockdown 2: Busyness and effective, hard work are not the same”
How do we talk about work?
In an earlier post on rest and restlessness, I said that we are likely to be able to help each other in the area of getting rest if we start with a better approach to work. I then went on to say that we often see work as a necessary evil and that prevents usContinue reading “How do we talk about work?”
Restlessness
There is, in my experience, a happy and healthy form of exhaustion and a deeply unhappy and unhealthy one too. That healthy form of exhaustion comes at the end of serious hard work, or exhaustion. It is that feeling when you know that you have put the time and effort in, that you have achievedContinue reading “Restlessness”
Food from around the worldwide web (19/06/2020)
Grieving Well My Story practical advice on how to live through the immediate aftermath of bereavement. George Floyd and Me Hip hop artist Shai Linne writes movingly about how the death of George Floyd affected him. The problem of NRPF Free School Meals hit the headline this week through Marcus Radford’s campaign. Here is anContinue reading “Food from around the worldwide web (19/06/2020)”
Rest (Hebrews 4:1-13)
How do you rest and relax? We are going to be looking at how we rest and what to do when we can’t find rest. We started though by looking at Hebrews 4 which talks about the rest that God invites us into. Here are a few highlights To understand what rest is, we needContinue reading “Rest (Hebrews 4:1-13)”
