Gimme A Break | Sojourners

Gimme A Break

Okay baby, let’s say God really is God; he’s not applying for the job, etc. etc. And Big Fella like craves to shake up the world, make it one big happy neighborhood, blah, blah, blah. He’s got plans. Big dreams. Always been that way. You get the picture.

Yeah, and Big Fella smacked us right on his assembly line. Said he’s gonna do all this through us. On topa that maybe you got kids, a hubbie or da wife, gotta pay the bills. This is a ton of responsibility. We’re talking 24-7. I got stains under my armpits already. Stressful, right? And Big Fella’s not too happy about our sleepless nights, and us gulping down aspirin, anti-depressants, and ulcer medicine. Wants us to do the job his way not ours, see?

So he’s got a secret potion. It’s like ancient. Goes back to Adam and Eve in the raw.

Make a long story short, Big Fella pulls up his sleeves, punches the clock, makes day, night, Jersey shore, Himalayas, crazy-looking fish, wild animals, first dude, first babe, pulling all-nighters the whole way. The job’s over and the guy’s whipped.

That’s right, I said tired. Big Fella. Big Cheese. Put a Q-tip in your ears. How do I know that? I read the book. Duh. Says he "abstained from work and rested." Dude named Abraham Heschel talks about this Hebrew word qadosh. Means holy. Abe calls it "the mystery and majesty of the divine." So Abe says, "What was the first holy object in the history of the world? Was it a mountain? Was it an altar?" Nope. Listen up: It was rest time that Big Fella first called "qadosh." His day off. When Big Fella lit up the barbecue, took a walk, smelled the roses, called his buddies over, and stuck a line in the water.

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Sojourners Magazine November-December 1999
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