A Sabbath Invitation: Rest, Renewal, and What Makes Your Heart Sing

A reflection on sabbath, rest, renewal, gratitude, and learning to listen for what brings life to your soul.

Travis Wilson

6/5/20262 min read

A Sabbath Invitation

Part 5 of the series: What Makes Your Heart Sing?

As I write these words, my sabbatical is just days away.

Over the past several weeks, many people have asked what I plan to do during that time. The answer usually includes some combination of rest, travel, reading, writing, prayer, and spending time with family.

All of that is true.

But the deeper answer is simpler.

I am hoping to pay attention.

To listen.

To notice.

To reconnect with parts of life that can become difficult to hear when the pace of everyday responsibilities grows loud.

That, I think, is one of the gifts of sabbath.

Unfortunately, sabbath is often misunderstood.

Many people hear the word and think it simply means taking a day off. While rest is certainly part of it, sabbath is much bigger than that.

Sabbath is an act of trust.

It is the decision to believe that our value does not come solely from what we produce.

It is the willingness to step out of the constant cycle of doing long enough to remember who we are.

That can be surprisingly difficult.

We live in a culture that rewards busyness. Productivity is often treated as a virtue. Many of us carry the feeling that there is always one more thing to accomplish, one more email to answer, one more responsibility demanding our attention.

The result is that we can become disconnected from ourselves.

Disconnected from one another.

Disconnected from God.

The irony is that many of us do not realize it is happening until we feel exhausted.

Jesus understood something different.

Throughout the Gospels, he repeatedly steps away from the crowds. He prays. He eats with friends. He notices people others overlook. He creates space for silence, conversation, and relationship.

Not because the work was unimportant.

But because human beings are more than workers.

We are beloved.

That word has appeared again and again throughout this series.

Beloved.

At baptism.

In music.

In finding our voice.

At life's thresholds.

And now here, at the beginning of a season of rest.

Perhaps that is because sabbath ultimately begins with remembering who we are.

Not consumers.

Not employees.

Not productivity projects.

Beloved children of God.

Before this series concludes, there are two people I want to thank.

Jerry Jelsema and Ruth Baker have faithfully helped lead worship at Peace through music for many years. Through organ and piano music, choir leadership, preparation, flexibility, and steady presence, they have helped shape the spiritual life of this congregation in ways that cannot be measured.

Long after sermons are forgotten, people often remember the hymns that carried them through difficult seasons, the music that lifted their spirits, and the moments when a congregation found its voice together in song.

For that gift, and for their faithful service, I am deeply grateful.

As I begin this sabbatical, my hope is not simply that I will return rested.

My hope is that all of us might become a little more attentive.

A little more present.

A little more aware of the things that bring life to our souls.

So I leave you with the question that has guided this entire journey:

What makes your heart sing?

And when was the last time you made space to listen for the answer?