And on the seventh day

A while back, I offered a few brief thoughts on work, rest and Christian ministry. Jason Goroncy is up to the ninth part of an excellent series exploring this whole topic in much greater detail. The series is titled "On the cost and grace of parish ministry". His most recent post on Sabbath is a highlight in a series of strong pieces (it also has links to the first eight posts). Here is a taste:

"Sabbath is not about taking a ‘day-off’ – what Eugene Peterson calls ‘a bastard Sabbath’ (in Working the Angles: The Shape of Pastoral Integrity, p. 66); rather it is a conscious effort of entering into, and responding to, the rhythms and actions of Spirit at work in creation. It is realising that God is not waiting for us to wake up to begin working each day, but that God is working already and inviting us, when we awake, firstly to listen, and only then to join in."