Sabbath 30

Links here to Cristopher's and Tripp's posts when they become available.

This chapter is the last in the "Consecration" section -- the book's final section, on the construction and conduct of a Sabbath day, will begin next. This chapter's title is "Breaking the Trance."

Since this chapter stands as something of a conclusion, it consists mostly of an eloquent restatement of Muller's main point for the book. Muller begins with an extended metaphor about how we are distracted by a movie to the point where we are briefly disoriented by the sudden return to our real lives (shades of Plato's Cave, campers!)

And just when I'm getting good and artistically het up about Muller's apparent disapproval of what art offers in our lives, he saves the day with the following acknowledgment:

"During the week our work, our contributions to the well-being of our family and community are essential and necessary."

This, finally, answers a lot of the objections I've raised to Muller's apparently black-and-white thinking over the course of the book. If only he had said it sooner, he could have saved me a lot of stress! But he didn't trust his readers to absorb the message of balance without his presenting it in a way that didn't actually embody that balance. Oh well. He made it there eventually!

As Muller goes on to say, "Sabbath time offers the gift of deep balance." And it was the need for such balance that drove me into this book in the first place.

When my friend Margaret gave it to me a few years ago, she was exactly right to do so. Then this year, when I offered it to Tripp and Cristopher, it was good for me to return to it.

I'm just about ready to be done with the book -- four chapters to go! -- but I'm glad that Muller has reminded me about deep balance. I can aim for it over the next chunk of time, however long that may be. And when I lose sight of it, the book will be there on the shelf to remind me.