How frightened we are by Sabbath, Jesus;
how afraid that if we stop,
we’ll fall behind,
we’ll have less than we want,
we’ll lose out to those who don’t stop;
how driven we are to protect ourselves,
to hoard what we can get,
to rise above the crowd;
and how wounded we and our world have become,
because we have forsaken the wisdom of Sabbath.
Teach us again how to be Sabbath People, Jesus;
how to trust you for our daily bread,
how to resist the urge to accumulate and hoard,
how to defy the pressure to have more, be more, do more;
Teach us to dance to the rhythms of your reign, Jesus;
to work meaningfully and rest peacefully,
to enjoy shamelessly and share generously,
to love abundantly and include indiscriminately;
Teach us that the small, daily Sabbath-choices we make
to trade fairly and consume responsibly,
to treat all others with dignity and respect,
liberate us all from the crippling weight of greed and fear,
and heal those whose lives are bent and broken
from Sabbathlessness.
Amen.
