Sue Mayfield, co-author with Robert Warren of Life Attitudes, the Lent course for 2005, has now written another gem for 2006. Life Balance focuses on the relevance of the Sabbath as part of life in the 21st centry. We asked her to give us some background on what inspired her this time around...

A number of years ago my husband Tim attended a conference led by Gordon Mursell (now Bishop of Stafford) and came back very excited about Sabbath, having been introduced to the concept of Sabbath as a ‘Palace in Time’ – a sacred space to be entered into and cherished. Keeping his day off sacrosanct and spending it well (since it was meant to be the jewel and highpoint of the week) became newly important to him and this enthusiasm for ring-fenced ‘special time’ rubbed off on me.

So when Church House Publishing invited me to co-write Life Balance, a Lent course exploring the theme of Sabbath, I was delighted.  Setting clear boundaries around work so that it doesn’t splurge all over the whole of life;  guarding family time;  ignoring the phone during meal times or important conversations – these had long been priorities and I had a sense – a little smugly – that I was actually quite good at Sabbath-keeping.

But Sabbath is about so much more than having a proper day off – as I’ve discovered in the course of writing this book. It cuts right to the heart of my self-perception, my relationship to Creator and Creation, my understanding of the point and purpose of life, my response to poverty and injustice. Sabbath  - in its fullest, most Biblical sense – challenges my workaholism, my need to appear busy in order to feel important, my tendency to define and justify myself in terms of what I’ve done or achieved, my self-sufficiency and control-freakery. Scary stuff!

There is currently a lot of talk about work-life-balance. As a society, and as individuals (stressed-out and overworked ones at that) it seems we need to grasp afresh the value of Sabbath rhythms and Sabbath attitudes. Sabbath-keeping is a commandment and a spiritual discipline. But much more than that, Sabbath is a gift and a treasure. What better time than Lent to learn and relearn patterns for healthy, God-focused living? And what better time to stop… and be refreshed?

Life Balance is a five session study course for use during Lent -  or at other times of the year. It explores the Bible’s picture of Sabbath, focussing across the five weeks on the themes of Pausing, Celebrating, Resting, Playing, and Liberation. Course sessions give a mixture of Bible input from both Old and New Testaments, talking-and-thinking time and interactive exercises to help group members get to grip with the challenges of Sabbath and its everyday implications.

Each session includes a Jesus Focus passage, highlighting a moment in the Gospels where Jesus demonstrates Sabbath values in action.  The Go Deep sections provide fresh liturgies and ideas for worship using film clips, artwork and multi-sensory imagery as well as more traditional hymns and songs. There are suggestions to suit all tastes and a feast of ideas for both playing and praying together as a group. The flexibility and abundance of course material makes Life Balance suitable for use by mature Christians, newcomers and fringe Church members alike.

Sue Mayfield, September 2005

Some additional notes to the Bible passages in Life Balance have been developed by the authors for your own use. They explore and support many different aspects of the Life Balance programme. Use the link in the right hand column to access the notes. You are welcome to make copies of this material.

Sample chapters of Life Balance are also available to download. To do so, please click on the product record below, and then on the 'Downloads' link.