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Published by Church House Publishing 2005
Price £3.99
ISBN 0 7151 4079 5
A five session course exploring
the rhythms of work, rest and play and the Bible’s
teaching about Sabbath – and its themes of
pausing, celebrating, resting, playing and liberation.
The course – which is co-written with Robert Warren – is designed
to be a Lent course for groups of adults to study together but is suitable for
group or individual use at any time of the year – and would work well with
older youth groups too. Each session includes introductory material, discussion
questions, prayers and ideas for multi-sensory activities like art or watching
movie clips.
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 ‘Keeping the Sabbath holy is not just another
commandment conveniently forgotten in the society that
loves being busy; it is a gift of God in creation; a
way of restoring balance to life. Rediscover it here.
A free holy-day is guaranteed with every purchase!’ Stephen
Cottrell, Bishop of Reading
‘In a frantic, driven culture few studies will
prove more rewarding and liberating than these rich,
practical explorations of how Sabbath principles can
re-order our time, refocus our priorities and refresh
our spirits.’ Mark Greene, London Institute for
Contemporary Christianity
Several years ago I was introduced to the concept of
Sabbath as a ‘Palace in Time’ – a sacred
space to be entered into and cherished - the jewel and
highpoint of the week.
I liked this idea very much! So when Church House Publishing
invited me to co-write Life Balance, a Lent Course exploring
the theme of Sabbath, I was delighted. Setting clear
boundaries around work so that it doesn’t splurge
all over the whole of life (especially as I work from
home, so there’s no escape); guarding family time;
ignoring the phone during meal times or important conversations – these
had long been priorities and I had a sense – a
little smugly – that I was actually quite good
at Sabbath-keeping.
But Sabbath is about so much more than having a proper
day off – as I’ve discovered in the course
of writing this book. It cuts right to the heart of my
self-perception, my relationship to Creator and Creation,
my understanding of the point and purpose of life, my
response to poverty and injustice. Sabbath - in its fullest,
most Biblical sense – challenges my workaholism,
my need to appear busy in order to feel important, my
tendency to define and justify myself in terms of what
I’ve done or achieved, my self-sufficiency and
control-freakery. Scary stuff!
There is currently a lot of talk about work-life-balance.
As a society, and as individuals (stressed-out and overworked
ones at that) it seems we need to grasp afresh the value
of Sabbath rhythms and Sabbath attitudes.
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