working Sabbath
I love working on Sundays. You see, I grew up in a religion that revered Sunday as a day of worship and community. A day to rest from the labors of the week. A day to commune with God, to reflect and renew your relationship with the divine. A Sabbath.
My first job – one that I kept for many years – was working in a bakery. Started out cleaning on weeknights, then moved to all the other great stuff that bakers do. Donuts, breads, pastries, cookies, cakes, pies. Up at 3 or 4 or 5 in the morning to have everything out when the store opened. Thanksgiving and Christmas were the busiest times – early mornings and long days. So many pies and rolls! I loved working the Thanksgiving morning and the Christmas Eve shift. For me, it was filled with mystery and magic, preparing the essentials of the holiday feasts when no one else wanted to work. It was an offering to the customers, my boss, my coworkers for me to be there, joyfully producing mountains of baked goods. It was a holy day.
I think that’s why I love working on Sundays. To me, that is what my work is about. I offer a sanctuary of rest, relaxation, communion. A place to contemplate the difficulties in life, to transform them into joy. It is a place of discovery, insight, and change on the level of mind, body and spirit.
I like the thought that I can do that on a holy day, when no one wants to work, and could use a bit of rest.
Happy Sabbath.
And I love that you offer that sanctuary, where I have communed with the Divine. I’m still not sure how it all works, but somehow, with your touch and affirming words, the stillness, the music, God speaks to me. There have been sessions where I sobbed in your arms as I worked through my anguish. In other sessions, I simply received and felt nurtured, comforted and guided. I am deeply grateful for the transformations in my life that have resulted. That I now feel joy, almost continually, despite difficult situations and the challenges of everyday life. That negative thoughts and feelings of not enoughness have been replaced with love of self and others. That I have found my soul and it is a very sweet place to dwell. Thank you, Ephraim.
“And His word was made flesh…” somehow after reading your inspiring and practical words, this phrase comes to me. Here on Sundays, and any day, you literally bring the energy of Spirit to the word and to the flesh… Thank you, Ephraim for being exactly who you are and doing exactly what you do. Being with you makes any time a Divine connection.
Peg, jane,
Thank you very much for your compliments, your encouragement, your trust. I am moved and deeply honored.