Diving across the finish line

As the week draws to a close, it is always a frantic frenzy trying to get everything which needs to be done completed before Shabbat. My eyes carefully watch the skies as the sun dips lower and lower. As the last hours of Friday afternoon tick by, I feel as though I am racing toward the finish line. All week, I fight and fight, using all my energy, to get through the week. Now, I am in the final stretch. I see that finish line, which signifies the start of Shabbat, fast approaching.

About a half an hour before the sun sets, I dive into my bed and across the finish line. Although it is not officially Shabbat, I always try to be ready a half hour before the sun sets so I am not caught by surprise when Shabbat officially begins. As I lie in my bed, I allow the exhaustion of this last week pass over me. How many times did I think I would run out of energy? How many times did I think I would not make it to this Shabbat? Sleep tugs at my eyelids, but unlike most of the rest of the week, I allow myself to succumb to the fatigue. When I awake a while later, I joyfully listen to the evening Shabbat services. I allow each song the cantor beautifully sings to wash away all the worries and cares from this week. I gratefully listen to the elegant music and praise God I am not in the hospital. Every Shabbat I am not in the hospital, I count it as one of God’s abundant blessings. For me, there is nothing which spoils a week like spending my precious Shabbat in the confines of a medical institution. As much as one tries, there is no rest when one is hospitalized.

As I go through Saturday, I stay mostly in bed, doing what God commands, resting and trying to keep this day set apart from the rest of the week. I pray; I continue reading my way through the Bible; I read this week’s Torah portion; I thank God for this day of rest. I slowly start to feel energy revive my fatigue-laden body. As the day draws to a close, I start to become anxious. My mind starts thinking about the week ahead, about everything which must be accomplished. I try to stay focused on the day, but the worries of the world threaten to overtake my day of rest. As the sun drifts lower and lower in the sky, my body is revved up, anticipating the start of another week, of another race to the Shabbat finish line. As the last few rays of the sun gleam across the sky, I feel my body tense up, eagerly waiting for Shabbat to end. Five minutes after the sun sets, I am out of bed, running the race of another week. Until next Shabbat, may your week be full of love, joy and shalom!