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Tech Free Sunday 3

I realised how dependent I am on my techno toys yesterday afternoon. There were about four things I wanted to do – including write up a piece for my thesis, and finish a writing project I’d promised another IC bishop – all of them were “computer dependent”. I found it oddly un-nerving yesterday to leave the computer un-touched; so much so that I had to “force” myself to do other things – in this case baking. I made a cake, baked bread (which I normally do on Sat or early Sunday so we have bread for Liturgy), and experimented with an Indian recipie.

I did do some reading for Das Elefant – which given the sporadic nature of said activity, produced some useful stuff.

The thing is – the whole idea behind tech-free Sunday is to move away from the unconscious “work” we insert into our free time and allow for other things to take root, or in this case since things spiritual have long since been planted in me – to escape the dappled light of shade in favour of a sunny spot. Ok Ok I took the vegetative metaphore a bit too far there – the point is I’m NOT supposed to use this time for working on the thesis, or on anything that can be percieved as labour; thus giving space for other things in my life.

Putting this in a theological context then – was God’s act of creation really “work”? Many Christians believed that creation is borne out of an act of love, not labour, so how does this fit into the idea of Sabbath?

18/02/2008 | Filed under Tech Free Sabbath.

  • Lyngine

    The Benedictines always talk about a balance between work, prayer, and holy leisure which may be useful here.

    And love and labor aren’t mutually exclusive. Creation can be both an act of love which is also labor—think of an artist, writer, or anyone engrossed in their work—ministry and academic work also fit into this category, as does any work that a person loves.

    I think of Sabbath as a time given more intentionally to holy leisure and prayer. Not so much that these things only happen on the Sabbath, but that one can pursue these aspects of one’s life a little more fully without the distraction of the looming obligations of work (however much loved that work is).

    In a more concrete example, it’s the difference between spending uninterrupted free time with someone you love versus spending that same time with them while answering cell phone, email, or thinking about work—the quality of the time vastly differs and the long term effect on one’s relationship differs. The same could be said for prayer in terms of one’s relationship with God.

  • Alexis Tančibok

    Yes, I think you’re right. I think that the sabbath works as a reminder of the points you raised – that is to say, that these things do ocurr during the rest of the week, but we are not always immediately conscious of them – during sabbath we are more aware of them and can, over time, carry that sabbath awareness into the rest of the week.

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