Book Review: Sabbath by Dan Allender

In his most recent book, Sabbath, counseling professor and seminary president Dan Allender explores the character and purpose of Sabbath observance for the Christian.  He reframes the discussion from the usual emphasis on what Sabbath excludes to an emphasis on what should fill it: the Hebrew word menuha, which he says means not only "rest" but "delight."

This book, which I received compliments of the Booksneeze blogger review program, is full of profound insights beautifully expressed.  It is learned but not pedantic.  I enjoyed it, and the ideas have returned to mind often.  That said, I could not embrace the ideas wholeheartedly as I wanted to.

The introduction and first chapter were especially well-done.  Dr. Allender discusses Sabbath as a commandment, not an option, and analyzes the reasons (sins) behind our failure to keep it.  His comments on Americans' cultural pride in busyness resonated with me deeply.  His musings on time and the nature of God also provided food for thought.

When the book shifted to what a "day of delight" would include, I became less certain of his conclusions.  There were still plenty of passages flagged and highlighted, and his recommendations often seem healthful and wise from a counseling perspective, but I am not confident that they pertain specifically to the discipline of Sabbath.  The wordcraft of the bulk of the book is excellent, but perhaps the thoughts would be more apropos to consideration of the spiritual disciplines of celebration, slowing, or rest.

The Hebrew word menuha, which Jewish commentators have associated with Sabbath observance, seems to support most of the weight of Dr. Allender's thesis, and I am not convinced that it is sturdy enough to do so.  He writes, "Menuha is the Hebrew word for rest, but it is better translated as joyous repose, tranquility, or delight" (p.28).  It may have delight as a nuance of meaning, but my limited Hebrew study tools make no mention of that.  What would seem the more hermeneutically important word, Sabbath itself, receives little attention.  (It means "ceasing" or "rest.")  In Scripture itself, menuha does not occur in direct relation to the Sabbath.

For another perspective, Lauren Winner in Mudhouse Sabbath describes Sabbath as the Jewish practice she has missed most since her conversion to Christianity.  She describes it as "queen of days," a phrase Dr. Allender also uses, but characterizes it as abstinence from creating.

In summary, this is a well-written book that would provide rich fodder for group interaction about what Sabbath means.  I appreciate Dr. Allender's assertion that the Sabbath should be a day of delight, but I am ambivalent about his elaboration of that idea.  If corporate worship, Bible study, and prayer (which the book minimizes) are not delightful to me as ways to spend the Sabbath, I suspect that the deficiency lies in myself and not in those practices.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze.com  book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255  : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

The Suitcase: A Poem

With timorous faith

I tiptoe toward Your throne

To tender my request—

Too large for me to carry,

Like Daddy’s suitcase*—

Impossible

As salvation.

Therefore since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens—Jesus the Son of God—let us hold fast to the confession.  For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tested in every way as we are, yet without sin. Therefore let us approach the throne of grace with boldness, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us at the proper time (Hebrews 4:14-16, HCSB).

*Corrie Ten Boom's The Hiding Place provided this image.

But Before the Spring. . .

Spring IS coming, unless Jesus comes back first.  First, however, we have the rather intensive reminder that it's still winter for now.  Sometimes, things get worse before they get better, but that doesn't negate our hope or the promise that sustains it.

Last Tuesday morning, we in north Texas awoke to this:

The sleet was predicted, so we had opportunity to provision the pantry and protect the pipes.  Once the precipitation ceased, the birds came out to feed, not having had the same anxious preparations.

The expected winter storm stretched into three days of widespread closures, one day of intermittent blackouts, and nesting in our homes as much as possible.  Much of the country faced far more severe effects, but the worst consequences here were the disruption of Superbowl week tourism plans.

Instead of the thaw and inch-or-less of snow predicted for Friday, we woke to inches of snow on top of the first storm's ice.  Ebony went out reluctantly when absolutely necessary, but he was in no mood to linger and build a snowdog.

Saturday we finally received gorgeous blue skies, melting snow and ice, and a visit to the park for the boys to walk and me to look around.

Today again promises beautiful blue skies and more thaw, but more winter may lay ahead on Wednesday.  All of this, again, is creation testifying that we are not in control of the fulfillment of our plans and agendas and that sometimes things get worse before they get better.


The same theme has caught my attention in my Bible reading, in Exodus right now.  When Moses obeys God's call to return to Egypt for his part in God's deliverance of the Israelites from slavery, initially things get worse, much worse, for his already suffering brothers and sisters.  His request for a brief journey to worship their God results in intensified labor and beatings for the foremen.  When the plagues begin, Israel apparently experiences the first three along with the Egyptians, since no distinction is mentioned until the fourth (flies) plague (Exodus 5-8).

The people complain, Moses cries out to Yahweh, and eventually God brings about a deliverance all the more glorious for the delay and hardships.  The Egyptians fill their hands with silver and gold "plunder," and the Lord displays His glory in the plagues, the Passover, and the Red Sea victory (Exodus 7-15).

God spectacularly fulfills His promises, but first the people and their leaders are tested by delay.  What was true for them holds true for me, too: when God has promised good to me and things seem only to be getting worse, will I count the coming spring as sure because He spoke it?  Or will I follow the Israelites' example and whine and complain and quarrel with God for having forgotten me?  Will I despair in winter's trials or drink in the melting snow to nourish my roots for the spring ahead?

Sometimes things get worse before they get better, but spring will come, dear Crumbles.  May God strengthen you today to persevere with hope and joy.

Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, 

for he who promised is faithful.

Hebrews 10:23, ESV

And since it's Monday, let me thank God for His good gifts (#3663-3680):

~Winter storms

~Shelter

~Husband working from home two days

~Heat, hot water, and electricity

~The surprising quiet of snow-blanketed world

~Watching the birds in the stark landscape

~Talking to my grandmother twice

~Red collar, black dog, white snow

~Blue skies again

~Warm laundry fresh from the dryer

~My beloved making pancakes for Saturday breakfast

~Wool socks

~Flannel

~Wrapping presents for loved ones

~A note from a friend to start the week

~Sharing books with my sister

~God's mercies ever new

~Cycle of seasons reminding us of His great faithfulness

Peter Kreeft on Joy

In the same vein as the last Cultivating Celebration post. . .

No one who ever said to God, "Thy will be done" and meant it with his heart, ever failed to find joy—not just in heaven, or even down the road in the future in this world, but in this world at that very moment, here and now. . . .

Every time I have ever said yes to God with something even slightly approaching the whole of my soul, every time I have not only said "Thy will be done" but meant it, loved it, longed for it—I have never failed to find joy and peace at that moment. In fact, to the precise extent that I have said it and meant it, to exactly that extent have I found joy. 

The entire essay, "Joy," is found here:
http://www.peterkreeft.com/topics/joy.htm
Acknowledgement: Ann Voskamp's book One Thousand Gifts brought this essay to my notice.

Book Review: One Thousand Gifts by Ann Voskamp

Joy is the realest reality, the fullest life, and joy is always given, never grasped. God gives gifts and I give thanks and I unwrap the gift given: joy.

...Gratitude for the seemingly insignificant--a seed--this plants the giant miracle. The miracle of eucharisteo, like the Last Supper, is in the eating of crumbs, the swallowing down one mouthful.  Do not disdain the small.  The whole of the life--even the hard--is made up of the minute parts, and if I miss the infinitesimals, I miss the whole.  These are new language lessons, and I live them out.  There is a way to live the big of giving thanks in all things.  It is this: to give thanks in this one small thing.  The moments will add up (p.57).

 One Thousand Gifts: A Dare to Live Fully Right Where You Are is the new book of memoir and meditation by Ann Voskamp of the blog A Holy Experience. This Canadian farm wife and homeschooling mother of six writes beautifully and candidly of the transformation occurring in her life through the intentional practice of gratitude (eucharisteo in the Greek of the New Testament) to God.  Beginning with a dare from a friend to count a thousand things she loved, Ann started noticing more, fearing less, loosening her grip, and falling in love with her Lord.

This practice of thanksgiving did not emerge from a naturally ebullient, optimistic spirit.  Ann shares of the accidental death of her sister when she was four, her battles with agoraphobia and general anxiety, and other griefs and losses in her immediate family.  She began practicing gratitude as a choice to act and speak and notice contrary to her native temperament.  Through the doing came the becoming.  Her sacrifice of thanksgiving encourages me, too, with the possibility of transformation.

Photo from www.incourage.me

Having eagerly awaited this book for months, ever since Ann's blog announced its coming, I wanted to devour it whole, in one sitting, when the package arrived on my doorstep.  Once I was able to tear myself away from the beautiful cover image, I found words and stories so richly intense in their beauty that a chapter at a time was the most I could bear.  This book is the verbal equivalent of the packet of handmade chocolate truffles my sister gave me for Christmas: so nuanced and satisfying that a morsel is a feast.

As a reader of Ann's blog, I should have expected as much, but still it surprised me.  For any Crumbles unfamiliar with Ann and her work, let it suffice to say that she is a poet who happens to work in prose and photos.

This is one of the best books of 2011.  Yes, it's only February, but it's one of the best new books I've read in a decade, so this seems a fair prediction.  More than that, it can hardly help but become an instrument in the transformation of those who read and heed it.  In keeping company with Ann through these pages, we might just find ourselves falling more in love with the Savior who loves her.