Take a Break: Sabbath, Self-Care & Strategic Disengagement

I recently learned a new self-care concept in Clubhouse with the Black Women’s Leadership Network. Our guest presenter, Connie Lindsey, Executive Vice President for Global Diversity, Equity and Inclusion at Northern Trust stated she has learned the art of “strategic disengagement” in her life and work in Corporate America. Of course, strategic disengagement, resonates deeply with my passion for modeling and teaching self-care, soul-care, health and wellness for women of color.

Additionally, me and my husband, Bishop Johnathan Alvarado are currently teaching and preaching a sermon series on Sabbath. In a recent sermon, I shared, God created Sabbath as a means of tranquility, rest and repose. Since the creation of Sabbath, all of creation flows with the rhythm of work and rest. If this is true, why do we as humans find it so difficult to cease from our work and rest? Could it be that we have bought into a consumer culture that teaches that we must be busy in order to remain relevant and viable in our work? Or perhaps, we have confused busyness with productivity thinking that the more active busy person is the person making the greatest impact.

It’s been a full year since we have officially been living through a global pandemic. Many people are still working from home with limited to no social engagement. Our lives are being lived in virtual spaces while we seek to maintain family, business, education and ministry relationships. If you’re like me, it seems that working in these virtual spaces, while necessary, in many ways is harder work. Zoom fatigue, screen exhaustion, technical difficulties and internet woes are just a few examples of the work that goes into maintaining virtual environments. Beyond the technical issues, I have experienced emotional and physical drain at the end of my day.

In addition to a health crisis, we are in a racial and political pandemic. Many people are reporting justice fatigue as we fight or voting rights, sensible gun laws, economic opportunities, and equal justice and treatment by law enforcement for people of color. All of these issues impact us at a psychological and soul level.

In my book, Harmonize Your Life: A Journey Toward Self-Care, I site David Kundtz, and his work, Stopping: How to be Still When You Have to Keep Going. Kundtz  posits, we honor Sabbath by creating “stopping moments” and “doing nothing”. Kundtz defines doing nothing in relative terms.  He says, “sometimes it means not doing too much, doing something that takes very little energy, or doing something that you love to do”. In other words, its relative and its paradoxical because “doing nothing can be beneficial”.

Wayne Muller writes in his book, Sabbath: Finding Rest, Renewal, and Delight in Our Busy Lives:

“Jesus obeyed a deeper rhythm.  When we think of Jesus, we often think of Him as feeding the multitudes, preaching in the synagogues, teaching on the mountains and healing all manner of sickness and disease. All this is true of Jesus and His ministry.  However, as often as you saw him doing these things, you also saw him retreating, sending the people away, or disappearing without a warning. Jesus would often retreat to a place of rest (Matthew 14:23 Luke 5:15-16 Mark 1:32-33). Jesus did not wait until everyone had been properly cared for or until all who sought him were healed.  He did not ask permission to go nor did he always let his disciples know where he was going. When, the moment of rest had come, the time for healing was over.  He, Jesus, would simply stop, retire to a quiet place, and pray.”

I think Jesus knew something about sabbath, self-care and what Connie Lindsey calls, “strategic disengagement.”

 Dr. Toni