A Review of Sabbath by Dan Allender

This book is the centre of a series of funny timing in my life.  I requested a review copy of it from Booksneeze.com back in February, and started waiting.  When it had been several months and it still hadn't appeared, I contacted them, and looked into the missing book.  They sent me a new copy, and life happened.  I hardly made any progress on reading this book until this week.

How perfectly exquisite is God's sense of humor that in a week where I have been craving silence, quiet, rest, and space, one of the items on my to do list was to finally tackle Dan Allender's book on Sabbath?

I can say for certain that this book will be the centre of further conversations on my blog.

Allender offers a thoughtful and beautifully written discussion of the idea of practicing Sabbath.  It's a topic I've thought often about in recent years, a topic I've listened to various speakers address, and even a topic I've read about, but I don't believe I've ever heard someone address it in a way that made me long for the sort of Sabbath they were describing.  Allender's book did that for me.

The idea that the Sabbath is to be a time filled with delight is central to his premise, and is an idea striking to me - so contrary from the dry, studious, and perhaps even boring ideas of Sabbath that pepper my conservative Christian background.  A day of delight - a day for hope, to set aside work, and worry, a day to enjoy the best - good food and wine, wonderful relationships, and deep conversations.  That sort of description has me pondering how I can practice Sabbath in my own life and context.

I'd highly recommend this book - it's not prescriptive, but presents instead a beautiful argument for the centrality of sabbath not only to the Christian faith, but to our very ability to live full, rich lives.  It's not a complicated read, but is well written, the words flowing beautifully.

As I said, it was a book that fit wonderfully into a week that found me craving quiet rest, and spoke truths that will carry forward with me into the remainder of my life.

Note:  I was provided a free copy of Sabbath by the Booksneeze.com review team.  All opinions are my own.  I was not compensated beyond the copy of the book, and was not required to provide a positive review.