What is Sabbath in Six?
Sabbath is a special day God set aside for people. A day to rest. A day to worship him. A day to play. A day to stop all of the good work we do so we can enjoy all the good work God has done.
Stop and enjoy. That’s the Sabbath concept in a nutshell. Simple. Easy. (Well, not exactly easy. If it were easy, we’d all be doing it. And ... we’re not.)
So we’ve decided to help you out with Sabbath in Six. Give us six minutes, and we’ll help you kickstart your Sabbath.
Trust me, you’re going to love this. Here is what you do:
1. Stop ...
- Get your whole household together.
- Everyone chooses a “work item”—either something you use for work or something that represents your work. A computer, a phone, a notebook, your keys. Get creative.
- Put your work item away. It can go in a closet, in a drawer, in a box. Just make sure it’s out of sight.
Side note: For many of you grown-ups, the most obvious item you’ll want to put in the box is your phone. But we know the prospect of going 24 hours without your phone can be terrifying. Don’t fret. Start small—say, two hours. Don’t get hung up on what you can’t do. Pick something you can.
2. ... and Enjoy
Sabbath isn’t just about stopping. It’s about celebrating. And we find the best way to do that is to read, pray, and play. For this Sabbath in Six we put all the steps right here. -->
A. Read
Choose someone to read this passage out loud:
“Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”
–Matthew 11:28–30
B. Pray
Choose someone else to read this short prayer out loud:
“God, we thank you for this Sabbath day. Help us to stop and enjoy what you’ve made.”
C. Play
God’s creation—and this includes the relationships he gives us—is worth enjoying as a celebration of God. When we intentionally enjoy what God made, we are finding our joy in him.
There are 1,000 fun things you can do to play on your Sabbath. We’ve just picked one (though we think it’s a great one). To be clear, this is the end of the six minutes, because once you start throwing paper airplanes around the fun may just keep going. We wanted to honor your time, but we said six minutes to kickstart your Sabbath. From here you just enjoy. Enjoy God and all the good things he has made—by enjoying a paper airplane contest.
The rules:
- Use only paper materials—no paper clips, staples, tape, or motorized propellers allowed.
- Each contestant may make as many airplanes as they wish, but they can only bring one to the official competition.
- For beginner airplane builders, use this classic folding method.
- Draw a starting line. Toes must remain behind the line. (Noses can cross the line.)
- Everyone gets three throws.
- The furthest throw wins!
FAQs (Read these, even if you don't have questions!)
Are there other ways to make paper airplanes?
Are there ever! You may want to try The Sprinter, The Bird, The Navy Plane, or The Tail Spin. You may even want to come up with your own design.
What if there's a tie?
Ties are great ... for funerals and weddings. Not so great for competitions. If there’s a tie, have a run-off (plane- off?). In the end, there can be only one champion.
What if I don't have paper?
It may be 2022, but everyone has paper somewhere. Do you have a home office? Start there. Then head out to the mailbox—junk mail certainly qualifies as paper (and it’s the most use that mail will ever get). Check kitchen drawers—paper often seems to find its way into the kitchen. And if you’re really struggling, see what you can make out of toilet paper.
Can I make a paper helicopter?
I’ve never seen it done. But if anyone can do it, you can. What have you got to lose?
Can I aim for eyeballs?
You may not aim for eyeballs. Especially not mine.
Can I name my airplane?
Please do! Feel free to make it zany and silly. I named mine “Mr. Tar Mack,” but I’m sure you can do better than that.
Can I decorate my airplane?
We haven’t done any research on the effects of ink and crayon wax paper airplane flight patterns. But if you can’t be good at something, look good while you are doing it. We say, go for it.
Can I take this outside?
Absolutely. There’s more variables (wind, rain, squirrels), but there’s also more potential. Launch your airplane off the back porch, from the top of a tree house, or over a creek.
Is there actually a right or wrong way to do this?
Nope. Well, unless you’re stressing about it. But that’s it. Don’t stress. Have fun.