Sabbath Keeping: Finding Freedom in the Rhythms of Rest

Six months in Iran and eighteen months in Israel, where all activity stops on every seventh day, began Lynne M. Baab's twenty-five-year embrace a rhythm of rest - as a stay-at-home mom, as a professional writer working out of her home, as a student and as a vocational minister of the gospel. With collected insights from Christian history and sabbath keepers of all ages and backgrounds, Sabbath Keeping offers a practical and hopeful guidebook for all of us to slow down and enjoy our relationship with the God of the universe.

Baab, a Presbyterian minister in Seattle, WA, has written a brief but heartfelt book on the advantages of Sabbath observance for Christians. She learned Sabbath observance practice in Israel more than 20 years ago, and her family has practiced Israeli-style Sabbath ever since, refraining from work. Baab finds that Sabbath, in a world from which most "blue laws" have long since disappeared, shows us "our necessity and our significance," teaching us "grace in a deep, experiential way." Many Christians and non-Christians alike, seeking reasons to find areas of respite in a nonstop world, should find illumination and help in her words. For most collections. Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.

In a gentle, concise style, Baab (A Renewed Spirituality) recommends a weekly day of rest as a gift from God that teaches Christians about grace. Although rules and puritanical solemnity have tarnished Sabbath-keeping in the United States, Baab commends the practice as a balm for frazzled moderns: "The frantic pace, the exhaustion that accompanies it and the resulting emptiness call us back to a rhythm that includes stopping and resting." While Sabbath-keeping is commanded in the Bible, God intends it as a reminder of freedom and abundant life. Baab suggests that Christians customize their Sabbath: All are called to cease from work, but one person's work could be another person's play. (Baab also says the Sabbath may involve freedom from multitasking, technology, media, shopping, competition, talking and anxiety.) Also, she says, the day for the observance does not matter, as long as it is consistent. Baab covers the scriptural reasons for Sabbath observance, but the best sections of this work deal with the personal and the practical. Her account of living (and keeping the Sabbath) in Iran, Israel and the United States instructs and fascinates. One particularly helpful chapter about creating a Sabbath celebration offers tips about making the day special. Winsome, passionate and persuasive, this will convince many Christians of the continuing relevance of the Fourth Commandment. (Feb.) Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.

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Reviewed by Michele (Newark, CA), January 31, 2006

Usually, the books about Sabbath are written from an academia perspective. In this book, Lynne Baab did a great job in giving her "testimony" on what God taught her about the Sabbath. Personal and practical, yet deep and grounded in scripture. Reading this book was a "shabat" experience. :)

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