Sacred Rhythms: Discovering God’s Gift of Sabbath

It was raining that night in 1952. 

Inside the Maverick Concert Hall, men and women stirred under the gentle chorus of water falling against the walls of stripped lumber. Toward the back of the room, where an oak tree had grown through the roof, the warm wind of the August night gently shifted the dust under their well-worn shoes. Slowly and then suddenly, a hush fell over the crowd as the piano player made his way to the front, each footstep on the stage finding a creaking wooden board. While they settled in their seats, they watched as John Tudor, a wonderful musician, took his. 

It was raining that night in 1952, as Tudor closed the lid to the piano, covered the keys underneath, took a stopwatch from his pocket, started its ticking hands, and then sat perfectly still… without a sound. 

John Cage’s composition, 4’33”, is made up of three movements, all of them comprised of exactly zero musical notes. For four minutes and 33 seconds, the ambient sounds of the audience, the sniffles and coughs, the creaks of the room, and sounds of traffic from outside make up the piece. For four minutes and 33 seconds, John Cage thrust the audience into the kind of silence that most people spend their time anxiously avoiding, into a moment where they were forced to stop and listen. 

Sabbath rest starts with stopping. This is true for all of us. Whether you have a week to rest or an hour, or the next 10 minutes, the first step is to press pause; not to abandon your responsibilities or worries, but to move them to the side and make space again for God to sit front and center. In a world full of distractions, Sabbath begins with intentionally breaking away from the normal rhythms for the sake of a new one. As we begin our journey, take the next minute to pause, be still, and focus your heart and mind on where you are, acknowledging God’s presence and peace. 

There (Elijah) went into a cave and spent the night.

And the word of the Lord came to him: “What are you doing here, Elijah?”

He replied, “I have been very zealous for the Lord God Almighty. The Israelites have rejected your covenant, torn down your altars, and put your prophets to death with the sword. I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me too.”

The Lord said, “Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the Lord, for the Lord is about to pass by.”

Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind, there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake came a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper. When Elijah heard it, he pulled his cloak over his face and went out and stood at the mouth of the cave.

1 Kings 19:9-13

The Lord’s prompting to Elijah to go out and await his passing by may strike us as curious. After all, why have his prophet witness these incredible acts of power, the rock-shattering wind, the earthquake, and the terrible fire, if the lord was not in any of them? Is it possible that while Elijah had been running for his life, even having survived off of food provided for him by an angel, that he had lost his focus? Look at his response to God in our reading; it’s all about himself and what he has done on behalf of God. Now, God calls him out and shows Elijah what even a fraction of his power is capable of. Why? To recenter Elijah’s attention where it needed to be, not on what he could accomplish, but on the one he was called to serve.  

Let's pray together.

Lord God, just as you did with Elijah, help me to pause before your great power, to enter into this time of sabbath with a peace that you will meet me in the silence. Good and Holy Father, may my mind's attention, and my heart’s affection be turned back to you, patiently and peacefully awaiting your gentle whisper. 

Amen.