middle schoolers and sabbat...

LCBC Gang, originally uploaded by Run Steve Run.

One of the things we love is having people over at our home, and we especially love having friends crash here when they are traveling through town. This week, Jason Mitchell (Lancaster County Bible Church– PA) and his middle school leaders (Ryan, Chad, Duff, Sean here with Jason) arrived for the Creative Infusion conference at Daybreak Church have taken over our house (in a good way).

They told me last night, that they were discussing the concept of Sabbath on the drive up and were trying to envision what a “Sabbath rest” looks like for a middle schooler (kinda blows one’s impressions of stereotypical middle school leaders who wear Christian t-shirts and are obsessed with gross food games, doesn’t it?).

I thought it was a great question.

We talked last night about how a sabbat seems to be incorporated in to the natural rhythms of work and rest created by God. I have read that there was a Jewish phrase that described busyness as “running ahead of the wind” and this probably where we get the expression of “losing our breath” or ‘getting winded.” A sabbath rest seems to be the space we make in our lives where we stop “to catch our breath” less become exhausted.

So back to the question… what does that look like for a middle schooler?

It seems like the rhythms we establish for our children and/or students are the ones that get hard-wired into our lives as we grow up. This question, in my mind, is profound and potentially revolutionary.

Any thoughts out there? And more personally, how is sabbat a part of your own life rhythm?