Our Brain and the Need for Sabbath

I was watching Attack of the Show last night.  (That is G4's geek news, for those not familiar with it.)  They had on a doctor that was talking about how our brain works and how it learns.  The host asked about multi-tasking.  Dr. Soussa (Sp?) said that a human brain CANNOT multi-task.  It is not capable of focusing on more than one thing at a time.  So when you are multi-tasking what you are really doing is switching your focus between things really fast.  When you do that you always miss something.  So when you are multi-tasking you can get things done, but they will not be as high a quality as if you had given it your full attention.  He suggested that if you focus on one thing at a time it will NOT take you longer than multi-tasking and your efforts will be of higher quality.  Even scarier:  ten to twenty years ago our brains were able to hold seven or eight full thought processes at a time.  Today the average human brain can only hold three to four at a time, and they believe it is because we spend so much time trying to multi-task.

So what does this have to do with our faith?  Well, how do we give our best to God.  In my first church I was not only a general associate pastor who had to preach, etc...  I was also the Christian Educator, the Youth Pastor, and the Choir Director.  (Yes, I was young and stupid and truly believed that I could do that much multi-tasking.)  Whenever one of those areas had something big the others would suffer.  When I had to preach, the choir, my Sunday school lesson, and youth group got less preparation and attention then they deserved.  The same was true when the choir had a big program, or Vacation Bible School rolled around, or the youth had a lock-in.  Nothing ever got my best.  Because I had too many hats. My ministry wound up being OK, but not great.  God never got my best.

Maybe that is why God gave us the Sabbath.  God wants us to take one day a week to focus entirely on our faith and our relationship with God.  It is hard to do.  When we are in church often we are thinking of a project at work, or a homework assignment, or even where to go for lunch.  It doesn't bother us that much because we are used to multi-tasking, right?  We can focus on worship or the Sunday School lesson and still have plenty of brain power left for whatever else we need to think about.  Well according to Dr. Soussa that is wrong!  Divided attention never gives your best to anything.

God wants our best.  That means trying to focus entirely on God for an hour or two on Sunday morning.  Sound tough?  Try taking a whole day of Sabbath.  In my first seminary internship my mentor made me take a whole day of Sabbath each week.  From 9 to 5 I had to unplug the phone and leave the TV off.  I could listen to music if it was religious and meant to help with my faith growth.  I could read, pray, sing, even walk in nature, but the whole 8 hours had to be spent in quality time with God.  It was really hard.  I maybe manage this type of devotion once a year now, when I am on study leave at a Christian conference.  But it is really good for my soul.  All the tension of the world goes away.

I am not saying that you should jump right in and unplug to spend 8 hours with God, but how about for an hour or two on Sunday morning.  Turn off your cell phone and set aside thoughts of what is due tomorrow and what you plan to do that afternoon.  Turn your whole focus on the Bible study in Sunday School or the music and prayers in the worship service.  Give God an hour or two of your undivided attention and you might find that it is easier to give God your best!