I read once of a group of tourists on safari . . .

I read once of a group of tourists on safari in Africa.  They had hired several native porters to help carry their supplies while they trekked across the countryside.  After three days, the porters told the tourists that they would need to stop and rest for a day.  The tourists insisted that they weren’t the least bit tired and could keep going.  However, the head porter explained, “We have traveled too far too fast, and now we must wait for our souls to catch up to us.”

There’s a great deal of wisdom in that response.  After all, we live in an extremely demanding world.  Many of us give ourselves so completely to our careers, to the responsibility of raising a family and running a household, to our various volunteer commitments that we often forget to take the time necessary to nourish our souls.  The frantic pace of our schedules means that, like those porters advised, we need to stop every once in awhile and give our souls a chance to catch up!

The Bible thought this was so important that observing a “day of rest” was included among the Ten Commandments.  It was designed to be a gift to humankind, as a way in which our souls could pause and be replenished.  And yet, too often the Sabbath has been understood—I would say, misunderstood—as a day of regulations and restrictions.  In some faith communities, people were actually fined for laughing on the Sabbath!  That’s just plain absurd.

The commandment was originally given to people who had been former slaves.  In effect, it was God’s way of saying, “When you were slaves, someone else owned your time.  You were told what to do and when to do it.  Now that you are free, you can set aside some time to rest and rejuvenate your souls.”

Think of it this way: Animals are basically controlled by time.  Some sleep at night and hunt for food during the day; others do just the opposite.  But the point is—they don’t really have much choice in the matter.  If an animal is nocturnal by nature, then that animal is not suddenly switching to the daytime shift.

Human beings—and as far as I can tell, only human beings—have the ability to dictate our own schedules.  If we choose to, we can work fourteen hours a day, seven days a week, emptying ourselves physically, mentally, and emotionally … or we can choose to take a day of rest, every now and then, and allow our souls a chance to catch up!