Sabbath

The New York Times bestselling author of the spiritual classic How, Then, Shall We Live? shows us how to heal our harried lives by creating a special time of rest, delight, and renewal.

“In Sabbath, Wayne Muller gives us the license, the encouragement to take that single mindful breath which puts our busy lives in perspective and helps restore our souls.”—Fred Rogers, of Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood

It has become our standard greeting: “I’m so busy.” Our relentless emphasis on success and productivity has become a form of violence, Wayne Muller says. We have lost the necessary rhythm of life, the balance between effort and rest, doing and not doing. Constantly striving, we feel exhausted and deprived in the midst of great abundance, longing for time with friends and family, longing for a moment to ourselves.

Millennia ago, the tradition of Sabbath created an oasis of sacred time within a life of unceasing labor. This consecrated time, Muller affirms, is available to all of us, regardless of our spiritual tradition. We need not even schedule an entire day each week. Sabbath time can be a sabbath afternoon, a sabbath hour, a sabbath walk. Sabbath time is off the wheel, time when we take our hand from the plow and allow the essential goodness of creation to nourish our souls.

With wonderful stories, poems, and suggestions for practice, Muller teaches us how we can use this time of sacred rest to refresh our bodies and minds, restore our creativity, and regain our birthright of inner happiness.