Shabbat reminds you of the need to live your life deliberately. Kavannah means toact and to live with intentionality and consciousness. Instead of going through your life on 'automatic pilot', you can live with awareness and intentional choice. Kavannah reminds you that you are part of the whole cosmic 'tapestry of being'. Out of that awareness, which is the gift of Shabbat, you rediscover and live from your essence, from your wholeness.

The commandment to "keep and remember "(shamor v' zachor) means to become conscious of the day, of God, and to act and refrain from acting based on that remembering. Shabbat is a commitment to recognize, honor, and deepen the inherent harmony of Creation -- and as a result, to co-create that harmony and balance within your relationships, your homes, your self, and your world. " Keep and remember" also means become conscious of who you really are and as Abraham Heschel said, "to bring together the scattered forces of the self." Shabbat offers you an opportunity to practice living intentionally.

Shabbat is a day in which you step out of your 'doing' into 'being.' You keep and remember who you are -- a human being created in the image of and in relationship with God.

Sabbath rest (menucha) has two basic aspects -- to refrain from doing creative activity, and to do things that create rest, harmony, and peace. Shabbat is the day God and all Creation rested. And that sacred rest is what you honor in yourself and Creation.

Part of the reason for refraining from various activities is to honor the inherent wholeness and unity of Creation. Shabbat shalom, Sabbath peace, is to reconnect with your experience of that inherent wholeness and unity. Anything that interrupts, adds to, takes away from, or changes in any way that natural order compromises Creation's rest and peace. You rest from both your dominance of creation and your power to create. To pull up a blade of grass changes Creation. To use electricity or to drive a car involves mastery over Creation. It disturbs your peace, and the peace of Creation. Any way that you intentionally honor and increase Shabbat menucha, adds to Creation's rest.

(More in the book on Shabbat rest and work as practice in living more mindfully.)