Sabbath Gift

Sabbath Gift

Discover the gift of rest for a healthier and happier life

by Bruce Manners

SABBATH
from Hebrew Shabbat
(meaning, to cease or to rest)
1. a time of rest.
2. the seventh day of the week, often from Friday evening to Saturday evening, observed as a day of rest and worship by Jews and some Christians.

Taking a Sabbath each week is an opportunity to focus on what’s important in life—for your life. It’s true that Sabbath is an ancient concept, but taking a day each week for what’s important is a growing trend and it has proven positive for individuals, couples, families and seniors. In a sense, it’s an ancient solution for the modern problem of a too-busy life.

This Sabbath Gift book has insights from doctors, psychologists and a rabbi, and author Bruce Manners explores the physical, mental, social, emotional and spiritual advantages of taking one day a week—a Sabbath—to rest.

Sabbath can help bring back a rhythm to life that not only enhances life, but also helps give it more purpose and meaning.

Reviews and Endorsements


[Bookshelf Review]

Sabbath is one of the best things we have to share. It is one of the regular and yet profound practices of our faith and an experiment we can offer to our family, friend and neighbours. We can invite them to share in our Sabbathing, try it out for themselves for a few weeks, and discover the benefits Sabbath can bring to all of our lives, wellbeing, relationships and spiritual health. In an always-connected, always-on society, Sabbath is counter-cultural and life-giving. The Sabbath Gift project was launched in response to market research that found that only 4 per cent of Australians consider that the Seventh-day Adventist Church is relevant today. While it might not have yet connected with the bulk of the Australian population, more than 20,000 people have visited the website and the #SabbathGift posts have received more than 1.4 million views on social media since this project’s launch. Now Sabbath Gift by Bruce Manners goes deeper into Sabbath, first as a practice of wellbeing, then as a spiritual practice. Dr Manners draws on current thinking about our too-busy lives, interviews a rabbi about the Jewish roots and habits of Sabbath, then introduces the place of Sabbath in the Bible and its ongoing practices in Christian history. He concludes with the same Sabbath challenge: try Sabbath as four-week experiment with a different pace of lifestyle and faith. As a life-long Sabbath keeper, Dr Manners says he learned more about Sabbath in writing Sabbath Gift, which offers the opportunity for those of us already familiar with Sabbath to discover new perspectives for our own lives. But this is also an opportunity for us to offer the invitation of Sabbath in a fresh way in our communities. Presented as a small book for sharing, Sabbath Gift is available at bulk pricing from your Adventist bookshop or conference Literature Ministries coordinator. As such, Sabbath Gift is a valuable book for us to read and to share. —Nathan Brown, book editor, Signs Publishing