Equity in Rest

Last night after work I was exhausted, and my husband cooked dinner for our family…and then he cleaned up. This morning, I was on an early morning phone call hosted by the United Nations listening to how there are still so many enormous obstacles to achieving gender equality worldwide. Both experiences caused me to reflect that without gender empowerment/equality, we will not make progress in reclaiming rest.

The U.N.’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGS) includes Goal #5: “Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls.” During COVID-19, data show that women’s unpaid work has increased significantly, and that girls and women are at higher risk of poverty globally.

We need to ensure that ALL have the right to rest – men and women, boys and girls – animals and all of creation. This is part of what I love about the theology of Sabbath – it is an ethic and mandate for equality in rest. As Walter Brueggemann wrote in his fabulous book, Sabbath as Resistance, Sabbath is “the great day of equality when all are equally at rest.”

As we continue our work for equity and justice, let's not forget the important implications and need for #equityinrest