Dear Blessed Earth friends and family,

 

Something is missing from our lives--something that until now had been safely passed along, generation upon generation.  Just a short while ago, almost everything in society stopped one day a week.  Gas stations, banks, and grocery stores locked their doors at night and on Sundays.  No more.  We are no longer a society that goes to sleep at night or conducts business six days a week.  Now we go 24/7.  And in the metamorphosis to a 24/7 world, something has gone missing. 

 

What got taken away is rest.

 

Sunday was the day when libraries and pharmacies barred the door and people got dressed up and drove to church.  Those without particular religious convictions simply took the day off.  Jews marked Saturday as their holy day and called it Sabbath.  Seventh day Adventists did likewise.  Most Baptist, Methodist, and Presbyterian clergy relaxed on Mondays.  Irrespective of faith, all members of society were given and even guaranteed a day each week when they could rest. 

 

Subtracting a day of rest each week has had a profound effect on our lives.  How could it not?  One day a week adds up.  Fifty-two days a year times an average lifespan is equal to more than eleven years.  Take away eleven years of anything in a lifetime, and there will be a change.  This is a law of the universe: for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction.  Subtract over a decade of sleep, work, or education, and the entire character of one's existence is altered.  Multiply eleven years times a third of a billion Americans, and you are looking for a lost continent of time. 

 

Unfortunately, in our society, it's not Monday that got mislaid; it's our Sabbath, our day of rest.  If there is to be any hope for recovering the Sabbath, we must first admit that something is missing.  

 

Despite reassurances of convenience, safety, and choice, America has been conned.  My generation was raised with a day off each week. We witnessed the change to 24/7; we saw a cultural treasure stolen.  Still, there was no outcry.  It happened so quickly, and yet so gradually, that no one even protested.  And now my children's generation does not have a day of rest at all.  The song lyric "you don't know what you got till it's gone" is only partially true.  If you've never seen something, how do you know it's missing?

 

A weekly day of rest is like Cherry Garcia ice cream and hugs: we can survive without them, but we can't really live.   I once asked an auditorium full of grade-school children sitting on bleachers about a weekly day of rest.  "What do you think about everyone stopping one day a week?  No chores.  No homework.  No parents going off to work.  No shopping.  No errands.  Does this sound like a good idea?" They stared, smiling at me like I was asking if it was okay to add another Christmas to the year, or if any of them would mind being able to fly.

 

Something is missing from our lives.  It is the renewing and grace-filled gift of Sabbath.  We invite you to try practicing the Sabbath with your family in October.  Then contact us and let us know what it was like - the blessings and the struggles.  We hope that more and more Christians will come to the experience the goodness of 24/6 living in a non-stop world.

 

Your brother in Christ,

 

Matthew Sleeth, MD

 

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We're looking forward to the November 1 launch of 24/6.  Along with the book, we are releasing a film series that explores the meaning of Sabbath and the gift of rest.  Follow this link to watch the trailer and stay tuned for ways to use these films in your small group or book club.