Second Saturdays: Welcome to sabbath! (um, what is sabbath?)

Are you longing for soul-deep rest that actually restores? Or to re-connect with a sense of your daily life as a walk with God? Do you wonder: Is Sabbath a gift or a commandment? A rhythm or a discipline? Is it defined by the things we do, or by the things we abstain from? Bring your journal and your sense of wonder to a quiet space where you can join with others holding these same longings, and more. Together, we’ll practice— and explore— the sacred and recurring invitation to rest with God. Drawing on scripture and other writings, we will use reflective journal prompts, small group sharing, guided imagery and the practice of wonder to re-imagine and re-connect to the life-giving practice of Sabbath. Ours is a God who invites. Might this Advent season be a good time to say yes to more time with God?

Jennie Isbell Shinn, M.A., M.Div., has been in private practice as a spiritual director since 2007. She has more than two decades of experience in non-profits as an employee, board member, volunteer, and consultant. While in seminary, during a discernment exercise in class, a friend noted, “You’re always talking about Jesus, but you’re really a lot more like Paul!” And so began her long, discerning path of seeking the balance between gifts for spiritual care and gifts for administration. Along the way, she has worked (part time) as a massage therapist (since 2001), a certified yoga therapist working with fibromyalgia patients, a director of outreach for a seminary, a cat sitter, a manager of advancement services (for a women’s college), a writer, and a yoga mat cleaner. She became a mother for the first time in her early 40s, and currently lives and works on an island off the coast of Massachusetts with her partner and their child. She is a member of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers), and is a bit obsessed with the implications of Incarnation. (Bless the seminary professor who said to her, “That’s okay, so is Jesus.”)