My Least Active Day

I wear one of those “Fitbits” that measures how many steps I take, how many floors I climb, how many calories I burn, and so on. I find it to be a very persuasive reminder of my need for regular exercise. Now, when I have unscheduled time during the day, I’m much more apt to go for a walk than before I started wearing this little device. I check my monitor periodically to see that I’m reaching my daily minimum, and sometimes I push myself to go much farther. I try to maintain a mix of easy level walks and harder hikes with lots of ups and downs. If I wanted to take this practice to the next level, I could join an on-line community of people who also use Fitbits and are constantly comparing their numbers. But I don’t want this to become an obsession. Competing with myself is enough.

As helpful as I find the Fitbit to be, I’ve realized that it also discourages the spiritual practice of Sabbath. Every week, “fitbit.com” uses data I have uploaded from the device to compile a report that is sent to my e-mail account. It is headed with the message, “Hi, Mark L., here are your weekly stats.” I see, not only totals, but also daily averages for the week. Near the top, next to a green smiley face and under a heading in green letters, “my most active day” is identified. And just to the right, red letters and a frowning face tell me what was my
“least active day.” Consistently, that day is Sunday. On Sunday morning, I do a fair amount of walking in the course of preparing for and leading worship. But, unless I have specific commitments, the rest of the day is spent in a state of rest – sitting, reading, working a crossword puzzle, dozing off, and doing as little as possible.

And yet, the unforgiving Fitbit frowns upon my Sabbath. It scolds me in a teacher’s pen red and tries to guilt me into being more active on that day.

For a long time, our culture has frowned on the very concept of Sabbath precisely because of its “inactivity.” We are conditioned to be perpetually productive, to stay busy all the time. Even religious people in past generations have looked askance at inactivity. “Idle hands are the devil’s workshop,” I remember hearing during my youth. And yet, God commands us to rest one day out of seven. Part of the wisdom in this instruction is that we need rest to be replenished and renewed the same way topsoil needs to lie fallow periodically in order to produce good crops. But Sabbath is also a counter-cultural practice. To intentionally refrain from productivity is an expression of faith that our lives do not depend upon how busy we are, but upon our Creator, who breathed life into us in the first place.

The little red frowny face on the Fitbit status report irks me. But it also reminds me that keeping Sabbath is a small act of rebellion in a world addicted to activity. When we know how to rest one day a week, we are better able to give thanks for every day and spend all our time well. That doesn’t win us any contests, but in a small way, it advances the reign of God.

©2015 by J. Mark Lawson

Comments

[Mark Lawson]

Dave,

I see your point. And these devices become a problem when we give them too much attention by allowing them to define our value in narrow numerical terms. I think that's generally a problem with everything that is measured in numbers.

But, with the right perspective, there's nothing wrong with a little motivation to keep exercising.

JML

[Dave Rosenfeld]

Shouldn't the colors be reversed then if we are to look at this from a Godly "perspective". The fitbit sounds to me as a reminder of "self worth" and does not factor in what is actually done for others on a day to day basis. This is just my perception of course. I hope this helps.