Can Sabbath be good for your health? Many religious and nonreligious people see Sabbath practices as intimately connected with health and wellbeing. 

1. Early in Part 1, we meet Sigve Tonstad, an author and specialist in internal medicine at the Loma Linda University School of Medicine in California. Tonstad describes the toll that constant stress, of the kind many people experience every day, places on the body. Among the effects are physical disorders such as gastroesophageal reflux and heartburn and psychological effects that include mood disorders and depression. “These are markers of a stressed-out society,” Tonstad asserts, describing the huge expenditures on medicines to treat such illnesses. “We might have to look for some other reset, some other remedy,” Tonstad considers, “and maybe the Sabbath could be that remedy.”

   Have you experienced negative health outcomes as a result of stress? On a scale of one to five, how present is stress in your daily life?

   After watching the film, do you feel that a regular Sabbath practice could help you with the problem of stress? If so, what are some of the practices you could take up? What are some things we could do as a society to deal with the problem of stress?

2. As noted elsewhere in this guide, some religious traditions associate Sabbath with health and healing. According to the Christian gospels, Jesus performed miraculous healings on the Sabbath and was sometimes criticized for doing so. Roman Catholic Bishop Robert Barron describes Jesus as “the agent of God, renewing [God’s] creation,” when Jesus heals on the Sabbath. Many of the practices of the Seventh-day Adventists, featured in this film, center on health and wellbeing. 

   Do you think of Sabbath as a time of healing---physically, spiritually, or emotionally? In what ways might it be so? 

   If you already have some type of Sabbath practice, how might it change if you were to think of Sabbath in terms of health and wellbeing, in addition to other things? What steps could you take to ensure that your Sabbath practice included a focus on health and wellbeing?

3. In SABBATH Part 1, we meet Reverend Michael Mickens, pastor of South Jackson Seventh-day Adventist Church in Jackson, Mississippi. He and his congregation are opening a health clinic to serve neighbors without access to regular health care, and the church is announcing the opening on their Sabbath day, which is Saturday. Rev. Mickens explains the timing of their event:

   So many of Jesus's miracles were performed on the Sabbath. And so we find that healing and health ministry on the Sabbath are beautifully aligned because they essentially reflect the healing ministry of Jesus. 

   South Jackson Church’s health ministry, which includes an annual health fair, is reflective of the Seventh-day Adventists’ larger focus on health and wellbeing, not just for oneself, but also for others. Referring to his church’s health outreach in Jackson, Reverend Mickens says that “when we keep the Sabbath the way that God intended, we will be practicing truth and love. . . . our Sabbath worship experience will go from being a special day of worship just for us to a Sabbath for the city.”

   Do you see healthcare as a part of Sabbath practice? Do you believe churches, synagogues, and religious institutions should be involved in addressing America’s growing healthcare needs? If so, what is the best way for congregations and houses of worship to engage their communities around healthcare? If you are part of a religious community, is your community involved in any form of health outreach?

4. Studies have found that Adventists, such as those profiled in SABBATH, are among the healthiest and longest-lived of all Americans. Their theology has a strong focus on wellness; most Adventists are vegetarians who avoid alcohol and caffeine and view the human body as the temple of God. While the Adventists may be a special case, many churches, synagogues, and other houses of worship today offer classes in wellbeing, yoga, meditation, nutrition, and other subjects designed to care for the body as well as the soul.

   In general, do you feel that religious communities today give sufficient attention to the care of the body, or is it largely an afterthought? In what ways might a regular Sabbath practice address the needs of the body? Do you think of Sabbath as a day mostly devoted to the care of the spirit as distinct from the care of the body? Is there a balance to be found in an approach to Sabbath that cares equally for body and soul?