The sabbath
Posted: Sun Dec 09, 2012 10:02 pm
High Velocity Lie-Nap! wrote:Also, "Eat That Frog" is a very easy read and a whole lotta 'yeah, I know that....' that you/me/we probably don't do a lot of. One interesting point in that book is he practically begs the reader to take one day each week and totally disconnect from cell phones and the internet. IIRC, this was written during the infancy of smart phones and their massive impact on our days. Tracy feels/felt that this ability to 'go offline' per se, is a key to a balanced life and I'm sure that chapter is more correct now than it was when penned, but I'm still in no way a practitioner of its execution, although in my line of work, I could use it more than most.
HVLN brought this wisdom in the Zig Ziglar thread. I heartily endorse it. From Friday sundown to Saturday sundown, I don't use phones or computers or drive a car.
On Friday night, my wife makes a nice dinner, we say blessings over candles, children, wine, and bread, we drink wine, and dinner can go for hours. We have guests over from time to time, who enjoy the warmth and tradition.
My son and I walked to and from synagogue since when he was very young. At first, it was half-a-mile away. On our walk home, we always walked by a guy building a kit airplane in his garage, and we'd talk with him about what he was building that day. Our rabbi then moved to the burbs, and the walk became 3.5 milies. We stay at the rabbi's for lunch, which includes a drink or two of vodka or or other spirit, and discussion about the bible, ethics, politics, families, or whatever else is on anyone's mind.
The walk to and from synagogue is the highlight of my week. When my son was around, it gave us no-distraction time to talk about whatever we wanted for however long we wanted. Synagogue also always helped recalibrate our spiritual compasses to point North.
As a practical matter, the practice is also a career-builder. While the idea is not to work, I've always found that if my mind is free of distractions, and i'm under no compulsion to do one thing or another, then my best ideas come to me about work or directions I should be heading in my life. It happens like clockwork; they just float up as if they've been trapped by the six-day grind.
