About the Author:
Sister Lou Ella has taught for seventeen years and was a school librarian for ten. She has 150 articles, as well as 125 poems, published. Currently, when not freelancing, she works in retail.

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Musings

The Writer and the Sabbath
by Sister Lou Ella Hickman

Write every day is the mantra many successful authors advise. These successful writers have not only dipped this commandment into concrete, they have also carved it in stone. However, I wonder how many other writers feel guilty about disobeying this ironclad rule. I have discovered a powerful tool that transcends this usual writing advice—one that is more demanding than the ultimatum these writers invoke: to take the initiative and don't wait for the muse to strike. When I don't write for an extended period of time, I honor the commandment of honoring the Sabbath. Before I share with you how and why I do this, let me share a little Scriptural background concerning the Sabbath itself.

Jewish religious history begins with creation. So, too, the idea of Sabbath. Genesis tells us that God rested on the seventh day. Thus, He would set the example for countless generations: take time to delight in what you have created. Stop and smell the roses. Enjoy life.

As the Sabbath was woven into Israe's culture, it became one of the most distinctive characteristics of the Hebrew people. A weekly day of rest and worship marked their nation as unique among the other cultures of the time, yet the Sabbath was more than just rest from backbreaking labor; it was a celebration of freedom. The text is telling, "You shall do no work that day, nor your servants, men or women, nor your ox nor your donkey nor any of your animals, nor the stranger who lives with you." (Dt. 5:14) As a result of this command, even slaves and animals were accorded the right of Sabbath. Sabbath was so important during their long history; the Jews would fight and die for the freedom the Sabbath gave them. The Sabbath would enable them to refuse to be enslaved again by those forces that tempt all of us to sell ourselves short. The Sabbath also helped the Hebrews not to become victimizers as they could not enslave as they had been.

Later, the land the Hebrews would take possession of would enjoy the same Sabbath delight. Fields fallow every seven years allowed the soil to regenerate. "...the land is to keep a Sabbath's rest... But in the seventh year the land is to have its rest, a Sabbath for Yahweh." (Lev. 25:2-4) This was more than practical agriculture; it was what I would call "spiritual ecology." As most Hebrews were farmers, this meant that tilling the soil had a spiritual dimension. These people understood that land, time, people, and animals were all gifts to be reverenced rather than be considered mere commodities.

While writing is my passion, I can't let it consume me. After all, I have a day job, commitments to family and friends as well as responsibilities in my religious community. As a result, there can be days or even weeks that I don't write. I don't consider this a waste of time. Honoring the "Sabbath" of my inner calendar helps me to maintain a balance as well as nourish all of those relationships.

One particular Sabbath discipline I have cultivated helps me not only rest physically but helps me to move my writing forward. I usually wake up on Saturday mornings about 7:30; then I lie in bed for about an hour. This is the time my inner writer takes over the article I have been working on during the week. That is, I sketch out in my mind what I want to say, I write down my ideas, then I'm ready to work at my computer. Other times, article ideas pop up and, again, I can develop them in my mind, write them down and be well-armed when I start typing at my computer. I may not have the complete first draft down but several pages of typing are not bad for an hour in bed.

I understand fully the reason behind the rule of writing every day. Many authors enjoy the freedom this discipline brings in not waiting for the muse to strike. While this type of independence is all well and good, it can also pay little heed to one's calendar. I am keenly aware of my inner landscape—those fields that need to lie fallow for a time so a later verbal harvest might yield "a hundred-fold."

Abstaining from "servile work" or menial labor along with not shopping on Sunday has fallen out of modern mentality. Yet this is not the whole of what the Sabbath can mean. An awareness of one's inner Sabbath can do much to help replenish a writer's soul as well as his or her writing. If you don't write every day, maybe your own verbal fields are also thirsting for the Sabbath's quiet rain.

© 2007 Sister Lou Ella Hickman