Sabbath for pastors

I AM A PARISH PASTOR. And I am a mother. When am I to practice Sabbath? To what extent does practicing Sabbath with my family mean I will be working, sometimes quite hard, on the Sabbath day?

For my family--two working parents and two small children--it is no small task to figure out whose needs and whose schedule will regulate how we will observe the seventh day. If we choose Sunday, I spend the first half working and the second half in some combination of wired and exhausted. If we choose Saturday, I may not necessarily be working and can probably be with the family all day, but I will probably still be thinking about my sermon, and several times a year weddings or other obligatory events will make these days work days as well. If I, as the working pastor, choose a more typical day off, such as Monday, I will not be spending Sabbath with my spouse.

Norman Wirzba ("Time out," July 12) mentions that his family's Sunday afternoon feasts were the product of much work on the part of his mother, but he has no suggestions for how the burden of cooking and cleaning can be shared in a family so that all might enjoy a day that is truly different from the others. The practice of Sabbath in our modern economy cannot be a simple reclaiming of the practices of the previous generation, nor ought it be an individual rest without regard for the work our leisure imposes on others.

Pamela Fiekenscher

Minneapolis, Minn.

Norman Wirzba replies:

How to practice Sabbath in an individualistic, pluralist and global free-market society introduces challenges that are unprecedented. The problems of competing schedules, a 24/7 economy, and dual-income households are very real. A place to begin is to think of Sabbath observance less in terms of a withdrawal from certain kinds of activities like shopping or e-mail--though practices of withdrawal clearly have their place--but as a way of accenting or punctuating everyday activities with a Sabbath emphasis. What I mean is best described with an example.

A way to practice the Sabbath, especially for busy young families, is to insist on protecting and sanctifying the family meal. Parents can be intentional about blocking out those activities that interfere with the family preparing food and enjoying it together and perhaps sharing it with others. When family members are fully present and available to each other, they can see how they are gifts from God given for mutual support and delight. Having four young kids myself, I know this can be difficult. But the delight happens when I don't take myself and my work so seriously. The family meal is as good a time as any to let the blessing of my family become apparent to me.

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