Take a weekly Sabbath during your time at Hillsdale. Reserve one day not to work as you do during the week. Allow your mind the freedom to roam places other than school. If you practice the Sabbath, your time at Hillsdale will be sweeter, less stressful, and more joyful.
“If you work with your mind, sabbath with your hands. If you work with your hands, sabbath with your mind,” said Abraham Joshua Heschel, a Polish-American rabbi and one of the foremost Jewish philosophers and theologians of the 20th century.
Mental work must be balanced with resting the mind. Hillsdale requires a tremendous amount of such work. We spend many hours a day completely stationary, doing little more with our bodies than writing things down or typing on a computer.
These are wonderful and rewarding pursuits, but be careful. There is tremendous temptation in getting swept up and away from earth in the pursuit of seemingly higher things.
Take time every week to come back to earth. Ground yourself in the real world. Take time every week away from your studies to sabbath.
Weekly rest cultivates humility. Remember that as we walk around campus, we’re among people who will change the world. Students here are beyond exceptional. Comparison is inevitable. Do not succumb to it. Instead, rest.
Take time every week to remember that your worth depends not on the length of your to-do list, but on the work of Christ who has died on the cross so that you might live a new life. Your worth should be defined by that. Christ died for you, so rest. Your work will be there tomorrow.
Do you want to enjoy your time here? Rest. Let your anticipation build. Let your passion for your work build.
Weekly rest cultivates joy. Resting allows you to approach each week’s work with renewed vigor and excitement at the tasks ahead. When I began implementing a weekly Sabbath and laid aside school for a whole day, I noticed I was far more excited to start work again come Monday morning.
I know some of you are reading this and mentally listing all your various obligations. Sabbath seems like an impossibility. There are more worthy things to spend your time doing than time to do them.
Do not get caught in the busy game. You want to know what busy looks like? Find a professor with six kids and ask him what his day looks like. Everyone is busy. I promise you it will all get done.
What does this advice look like in action? Take a walk at Baw Beese Lake, play a board game, watch a movie, read a book for fun, talk to your friends about anything but Aristotle, call your mom, or take a nap.
I beg you to consider the importance of this. A Hillsdale education is challenging. It requires many hours of dedicated application.
Paul says in Colossians 3:23-24 that we are to work at whatever we do with all our hearts as for the Lord, not for men, for it is the Lord we serve. Remember also, as you work hard for the Lord and not for others, that the same Lord whom you work for is the God of whom David said in Psalm 127:2, “He gives to his beloved sleep.”
Rest in the Lord’s love for each of you and draw strength from that rest for the wonderful challenge that lies ahead.
Garrett Goolsby is a senior studying psychology He recently spoke at Hillsdale’s freshman convocation to incoming students, their parents, and Hillsdale faculty. His remarks are summarized below.