Making Shabbat Intentional

Here it is, Wednesday already - hump day.  The workweek is half over and the weekend is halfway here. Is Shabbat on your radar? Probably not.

No shame in that of course. Most people, regardless of religious persuasion don't have the Sabbath on their radar.  My experience is that even those who go to church or to synagogue pretty regularly (every week/every other week) are often going through the motions and not mindful of the Sabbath.   Many of us show up physically, but leave our intentionality at home.  Whether we show up in shul or show up on our own, how we show up, our mindfulness, or perhaps intentionality (kavanah in Hebrew), is an important consideration.

Maimonides said: "Prayer without kavanah is no prayer at all. He who has prayed without kavanah ought to pray once more. He whose thoughts are wandering or occupied with other things need not pray until he has recovered his mental composure. Hence, on returning from a journey, or if one is weary or distressed, it is forbidden to pray until his mind is composed The sages said that upon returning from a journey, one should wait three days until he is rested and his mind is calm, then he prays."

That seems to beg a question - Are the prayers of those who rarely come to synagogue heard any better or worse than the prayers of those who come to synagogue but without the appropriate intention (kavanah).?  In my world of mediation and meditation I work hard not to judge others. Rather I try to observe what they do and not do.   

As an observer, I suggest that Shabbat - that 24 hour period from sunset Friday to sunset Saturday is a time of reflection and meditation.  It is a time for family and peace.  It is a time to separate in some way from the 'daily grind'. How each of us does it and to what level of intention we do it...well only we can determine that.

I recommend intention...

Practicing Paying Attention

We think we are paying attention...we really do.  Yet the sunset and the full moon, the smell of the ocean or the cool breeze across our skin often goes unnoticed. It is all there for  us to notice... yet many of us miss it everyday.  It is important on Shabbat to just be...to be here with no need to get somewhere else.  To be present...to be here and now in the moment.

I used to work in Boston and chose to park my car in the garage under the Boston Common. It wasn't the cheapest, although it was pretty convenient.  It offered me the daily opportunity to walk through the Public Gardens on the way to my office.  Everyday each, each way I started my day with a walk through this beautiful setting - a heaven in the midst of urbana.

I could literally stop and smell the roses. It was important to me to recognize the holiness of that place and to breathe it in.  Shabbat offers us that space to find holiness in our lives...Meditation offers us skills to pay attention to that holiness...and to savor it.

Be present.