I pondered how to reflect on the ending of this sabbatical season with which I have been gifted. It has been 3 amazing months. They looked quite a bit different than I thought they would – though my picture was pretty unclear, given I’ve never done anything of this sort before. But my heart is too full to articulate clearly my thoughts on the ending of something so sacred. Instead, I will share this prayer that I wrote on Friday. This prayer is a part of a larger writing project that I dipped my toe into while on sabbatical. I didn’t get as far as I would have liked, but I did get started. More on that in time…
But for now, I will share this prayer, as I prepare to enter back into the work that God has given me – also a sacred gift from His hand.
Upon Ending a Sabbatical
O Sovereign God,
This season of dormant Sabbath rest has come to an end.
It has been a gift – initiated by you at Creation, and lovingly fulfilled in the present by those who took up my empty space and sustained its actuality.
These days of quiet and rest have been a labor in their own right, labors different than that for which I am employed:
- Books read
- Creativity expressed
- Places traveled
- People visited
- Naps taken
- Words written
- Meals savored
- Conversations cherished
- Games played
- Reflections pondered
- Empty space embodied
These restful labors have produced their own fruit, fruit that may not have grown in the garden of toil and work:
- Deep soul rest
- Relationships strengthened
- New habits and hobbies practiced
- Disciplines deepened for rootedness in you
- Perspective shifted
- Burdens lifted
- Ways of being which result in doing differently
- Compulsions realigned
These are fruits to be enjoyed, and in the economy of your Kingdom they hold equal value to the productivity for which we strive in our daily work.
As I return, Lord, to my role in the vineyard labor where you have placed me, make the fruit you have grown in my life be a refreshment to those around me. May they taste the freshness of rest through my engagement with the tasks in a new way. May the burdens they have carried be lifted through my joy and presence. May our fellowship be sweeter because of the absence we have allowed.
But mostly, Lord, may I return to my work in a new way;
Faithful to only that which you require for the day
Mindful of my limits, and your limitlessness
Trustful that you – and you alone – bring the increase
Grateful for the invitation to serve alongside you in the hard places
Truthful to the essence of who I am – and who I am not
Hopeful in the promises of your provision
Restful in your all-sufficiency
Worshipful in all I undertake
May the ending of this season of rest be the beginning of a new rhythm of rest and work, not in balance as if equality is the goal, but in an ebb and flow like the tides that move by the beckon of your hand.
May all that I do – and all that I don’t do, by your bidding – be an offering of worship to you.