Sabbath for the Introvert

Traditional notions of Sabbath as a day to attend religious services and spend time with family may not be the Sabbath designed for the introvert.

The first time I started seriously practicing Sabbath was when I was attended an evangelical college. I took a class on “spiritual disciplines” and Sabbath was one of the disciplines, alongside fasting, silence, and simplicity. Among these disciplines, Sabbath has been the one that has truly transformed my life.

When I was growing up, my family did not practice a Sabbath other than attending a church service in the morning. We all did homework and my dad frequently worked at the office on Sundays. My knowledge of Sabbath growing up was this was a day to attend church and maybe spend time with your family, but that was basically it. It wasn’t until I took the course on spiritual disciplines that I began thinking more about what it meant.

Sabbath in the Old Testament scriptures was strict, with endless rules about what you could and could not do. This style of practicing Sabbath has been continued by certain Jewish communities, such as Orthodox Jews. In the New Testament, Jesus seemingly does away with the Sabbath when he and his disciples pluck grain (Mark 2). I have heard this story used many times to justify the failure of modern day Christians to follow any strict Sabbath guidelines.

But should we be so quick to abandon one of the ten commandments? We have not abandoned prohibitions on murder, adultery, and jealousy. Why have we mostly abandoned the command to rest? I believe this call is just as vital now as it was in the time of Moses and each person needs to decide what a day of rest means to them.

For example, as a student, my Sabbath day meant that I would not do any homework on that day. Instead, I would spend the day doing activities that I enjoyed. I also would avoid responding to emails or messages that I did not want to deal with. Not doing schoolwork on the Sabbath was challenging when the pressures of performance were great, but at the same time, practicing this discipline allowed me to fully rest and perform even better on those non-Sabbath days. Sabbath also meant paying attention to my brain at the end of a long week day and recognizing when it was time to quit. Instead of pushing myself beyond this stage, I would listen to the natural rhythms of my mind.

Sabbath has looked different for me since getting married. I naturally thrive when I get ample alone time, which has been challenging when there is always someone else present in my home. I enjoy spending time with my husband, so sometimes it is hard to forego that time with him for gifting myself with the alone time that I truly need. Sabbath in marriage has looked like me locking myself in a room and binging on Netflix, YouTube, or whatever other mind-numbing material I could find. It also involves doing jigsaw puzzles, playing Tetris, and other mindless games. I have been trying to analyze why I suddenly need this degree of mind numbing activity now that I am married and I think it is because it is an easy escape and my introvert mind is tired.

Sabbath for me now is NOT attending a church service. Constantly making small talk with people and listening to a sub-par lecture (sorry to all of you pastors out there) is not restful to me. Sabbath for an introvert may sometimes mean skipping church and not feeling guilty about it.

Each person needs to decide what Sabbath looks like to them and for introverts it may look much different than traditional practices. I am curious if anyone else has ideas for how to find rest on the Sabbath as an introvert.