A few weeks ago I had a chance to attend a Jewish Shabbat at an Episcopalian Church. It was a true interfaith gathering. Rabbi Joe Charnes, a great friend of the Church of the Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, conducted the service. Rabbi Joe has spent his life exploring the comparative study of Christian and Judaism. If you’d like to read his thoughts on attending his first General Conference,

Rabbi Joe explained the meaning of the word Shabbat as three letters that mean stop, return, and restore. He said that our Sabbath day should be one where take the time to stop what we are doing, consider what we need to return to, and use the day to restore us.

In the last LDS General Conference (October 2024), Bishop L. Todd Budge taught a similar concept. To read his full talk, click here. He taught a Japanese word mui (無為)which means “non doing” or as Bishop Budge explains, “a reminder to slow down and to live with greater spiritual awareness.”

As I thought about the words of these two spiritual leaders, I remembered a verse found in Matt. 11:28 (NIV), “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” I looked up the Greek word used here for “rest” and discovered it is the word ἀναπαύω (anapauó) which means to give an intermission from labor by implication of refresh. In other words, God could also be saying, “I will refresh you.”

How does God refresh us exactly? Let’s look at how our physical bodies are refreshed. Despite the common belief that our body replaces itself 7 years, that actually isn’t quite true. The average life of a cell in our body is 7 years; however, each cell has its own life span.

Non-injured skin tissue – regenerates every 2 weeks
Stomach lining – replaced every 5 days
Red blood cells – last 4 months
Bones – regenerates every 10 years

In order for a cell to be replaced, the original cell must die. This process is known as apoptosis or “falling off,” like when a leaf falls off a tree. For a new cell to replace an old one, apoptosis must occur. In fact, it is believed that if apoptosis is prevented, cancer can develop.

How can we experience spiritual regeneration? I see the Sabbath day as a way to encourage what I am now calling Spiritual Apoptosis. Just like how Jesus’ death brings new life, when we too can be refreshed anew if we allow little deaths to occur. What exactly needs to die? I think the answer is different for each of us. Here are few deaths that I thought of that we can consider each Sabbath:

Routines
Attitudes
Beliefs
Activities
Associations
Pursuits
Ambitions
Grievances

We can become refreshed each Sabbath day by letting something die. Maybe it is a job that is moving you away from your goals or a hurt that someone caused. It might be the belief that you aren’t good enough or worthy of God’s love.

Whatever the case may be, God wants those spiritual cells to die so that He can refresh you. When this happens, we can rejoice that Sunday has truly been a day of rest.

Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word,

and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life,

and shall not come into condemnation;

but is passed from death unto life. ~John 3:16 (emphasis added)

Wishing you a great Sabbath,

Heather Ruth Pack

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What do you think? I’d love to hear your thoughts on Spiritual Apoptosis. Is anything missing from my list of what needs to die in our lives?

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Want to Read More?

In 2017, I gave a Sacrament Meeting talk in New York City about how God loves broken things. When we allow ourselves to be broken is when God can bring us new life.

The article is currently featured on the Times of Faith blog. To read the article, click the button below.

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Want to know more about Shabbat?

I found this 3-minute video that I think does a great job of explaining the reasoning behind the Jewish Shabbat and how it is practiced today. Here it is if you’d like to view it.