The Sabbath Elevator

If you refrain from trampling the sabbath, from pursuing your own interests on my holy day … then you shall take delight in the Lord. – Isaiah 58:13-14a (NRSV) 

One Friday night during my rotation as a hospital chaplain in New York City, a nurse warned me: “Watch out for the sabbath elevators.” 

From sundown Friday until sundown Saturday, the buttons in this elevator were deactivated. The cars just stopped on every floor. This allowed Orthodox Jewish visitors to move through the towers of the hospital without violating their sabbath observance.   

I decided to give the sabbath elevator a try. 

After three floors, it felt like every cell in my body was screaming: “You could see two patients in the time it will take to get to the 12th floor! How are you going to code this time in the charting software? Aren’t you just being lazy?”  

My ambition, my disquiet, and my frantic heart were trampling over this briefest idle moment. And I realized I needed to learn how to take a break. I needed the regular and intentional practice of keeping the sabbath.  

Otherwise rest is something I just do if I have time. I’ll take a break after things slow down … in a couple weeks. I’ll be able to relax after that next deadline. 

Somehow though, that imagined future never comes, and I end up trampling over every idle moment until I am empty and exhausted.  

So I’m learning to embrace idle moments, a train ride without checking my phone, a walk without headphones, an afternoon with no plans at all. I am hoping to quiet myself enough to listen for the voice of God. I’m hoping that the next time I find myself on the sabbath elevator, I’ll last for four floors. Maybe even five. 

Prayer
Slow me. Stop me. Amen.

About the Author
John Allen is the Senior Minister of First Parish Church UCC in Brunswick, Maine.