Margin:  The edge, border, or periphery; the amount of difference. Margins provide space for pause and reflection and thus help give definition and clarity to the words and sentences on the page.

In his book The Good and Beautiful God, James Bryan Smith states that “The number one spiritual sickness of our day is ‘hurry sickness.’ We are constantly in a hurry because we have overloaded our schedule.”  He continues, “we add so much to our schedules that we have no ‘margin,’ no space for leisure and rest and family and God and health.” This also means we have less mental/emotional/physical/ spiritual energy to absorb stress and navigate life’s challenges: “When we lack margin in our lives we become tired and lonely and joyless…(but) margin restores balance and restores our soul….”

As part of our Christian discipleship, we are commanded to honor and keep the Sabbath….a day of rest and play, time to be with God.  A common word for what God gives to us and desires for us is SHALOM.  This Hebrew word means “peace, harmony, wholeness, completeness, prosperity, welfare, and tranquility.”  It also refers to the welfare & well-being of both individuals and the society.  As seminary professor Dr. Hugo Magallanes said, shalom is a holistic and multi-dimensional peace whereby we experience within (with) ourselves, peace with our neighbors, peace with the created world, and peace with God.

When seeking to create more “margin” in our lives, we must both eliminate activities and habits that are unnecessary & life-draining while at the same time creating more room for those things that are most essential, most life-giving, and most important. 

SUGGESTED IDEAS TO PRACTICE MARGIN:

• Slow down.  Allow [as in WRITE IT IN ON YOUR SCHEDULE!] an extra 10-15 minutes for each task
• Make sure you get plenty of sleep; 99% of humans need 6.5-8 hourrs of sleep/night
• Get up just a few minutes earlier each day and take a few moments for silence or prayer before setting out.
• Examine your routines & commitments. Ask “Is it essential?”  Consider saying NO to “anything that is not absolutely necessary to the well-being of your soul or the welfare of others.”   When presented with invitations and opportunities requiring your time and energy, ask yourself “Is this in line with my values and will it really make me happier?”
• Set boundaries & cut back on the frequency of things you tend to do to excess.  For example, limit or cut back on the amount of time you spend on social media.
• Margin is about decluttering our homes & our hearts, as well as our schedules.  How can you learn to simplify and live with less? What is ENOUGH? 

REMEMBER:

• Its OK to say No.  It doesn’t make you a mean person or a bad Christian.  In fact, God commands us to refrain from working, to rest, to observe & keep the Sabbath.  Jesus is the lord of Sabbath/Shalom:  “My peace I give to you.”  “Come to me you who are weary & heavy burdened and I will give you rest.”
• Embrace each moment & each day with joy.
• Its OK to have nothing to do!  Read a good book, curl up in a hammock, enjoy the fall sunshine and go for a walk. 
• The majority of results and effectiveness comes from only 20% of our work.
• Life is a JOURNEY.  Not a race.
• CREATING MARGINS takes INTENTIONALITY, EFFORT, and PLANNING.  It won’t happen by itself.  Set Goals and build margin into your daily schedule and routine.  If we wait until all our work is done before we play, we will never have any time for rest or play because as the adage go, “the task always takes as much time as we have.”

FOR REFLECTION:

• As you practice creating margin, describe what you did & how you felt. What was challenging? What was life-giving?
• What did you notice about yourself or learn about God through this experience?