On Sabbath

Reflections from Abraham Heschel

“The seventh day is the armistice in man’s cruel struggle for existence, a truce in all conflicts… [It] is the exodus from tension, the liberation of man from his own muddiness, the installation of man as a sovereign in the world of time.” - Abraham Joshua Heschel

At the end of my first year at Valparaiso University I participated in a week long faculty development retreat at a university study center in Cambridge, England. First-year professor might be one of the most grueling jobs on the planet. Fresh off a year of 80+ hour work weeks, evening study sessions, 1am and 6am emails, it was important for us to reflect on the meaning of work, and of rest.

There are, to say it gently, a wide range of opinions on the topic.