What Sabbath Taught Me About Rest  

When my daughter was little, she did everything to avoid napping. She desperately needed to nap every afternoon, and everyone knew it except her. When she caught herself nodding off, she would fidget and look around to see if there was a party happening to which she had not been invited. She continually resisted the rest that she most needed. Most grown-ups struggle with the same thing. It took me years to realize that my day off work--which I called my Sabbath--was merely a time for me to catch up on the things I did not do during the week, such as sorting clothes, sorting toys, taking my kids out on a date, paying the bills, preparing my next garage sale, selling stuff online, vacuuming, doing the laundry, planning meals, or writing a paper for a class. Checking off items from my to-do list brought me some temporary peace of mind but never really rest.

According to the American Center for Disease Control, 80% of doctors' visits...