Jubilee

When I was pondering my upcoming birthday and how to celebrate I felt discouraged. Turning the big 5-0 is not exactly seen as a positive thing with 'over the hill' decorations and gifts of products for aging adults. But I had struggled to be kind to myself in my thoughts and didn't want to promote any idea of becoming less capable or vibrant. Besides, my heart and soul still feel like I did when I was in my 20's, even if my body may have live a little longer.

So I was really puzzling about this when the word 'Jubilee' came into my mind. I had heard it before somewhat associated with the scriptures, but wasn't sure the specifics. So I looked it up in the Bible where Leviticus 25:1-17 states...

1 And the Lord spake unto Moses in mount Sinai, saying, 2 Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When ye come into the land which I give you, then shall the land keep a sabbath unto the Lord. 3 Six years thou shalt sow thy field, and six years thou shalt prune thy vineyard, and gather in the fruit thereof; 4 But in the seventh year shall be a sabbath of rest unto the land, a sabbath for the Lord: thou shalt neither sow thy field, nor prune thy vineyard. 5 That which groweth of its own accord of thy harvest thou shalt not reap, neither gather the grapes of thy vine undressed: for it is a year of rest unto the land. 6 And the sabbath of the land shall be meat for you; for thee, and for thy servant, and for thy maid, and for thy hired servant, and for thy stranger that sojourneth with thee, 7 And for thy cattle, and for the beast that are in thy land, shall all the increase thereof be meat. 8 ¶And thou shalt number seven sabbaths of years unto thee, seven times seven years; and the space of the seven sabbaths of years shall be unto thee forty and nine years. 9 Then shalt thou cause the trumpet of the jubilee to sound on the tenth day of the seventh month, in the day of atonement shall ye make the trumpet sound throughout all your land.10 And ye shall hallow the fiftieth year, and proclaim liberty throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof: it shall be a jubilee unto you; and ye shall return every man unto his possession, and ye shall return every man unto his family. 11 A jubilee shall that fiftieth year be unto you: ye shall not sow, neither reap that which groweth of itself in it, nor gather the grapes in it of thy vine undressed. 12 For it is the jubilee; it shall be holy unto you: ye shall eat the increase thereof out of the field.

As a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, I believe in keeping the Sabbath Day holy which means I go to church, I don't go shopping or out to eat and I focus on strengthening family connections, studying the scriptures, serving others and resting. So this idea of the sabbath was not new to me, but celebrating the 50th year of sabbaths by proclaiming it a Jubilee year of liberty was a new and delightful idea. Making my 50th a holy year of rest and rejoicing seemed much more in line with my faith and desire to have a true celebration of my life. Additionally, as a teacher the idea of a sabbatical every 7 years also resonated with me since I was overdue by a couple of years. So over the next few days I tried to come up with a list of 50 things I would like to do in my 50th year and I figured even if I only accomplished some of them it would be a great way to celebrate.

So the first item on my list was to have the opportunity to say thank you to all the people who have blessed my life! I figured the best was to do that was to have birthday gatherings in Colorado, Utah, Arizona and California. My list also included attending our church's semi-annual General Conference held in Utah every October, finish applying to and begin graduate school, take dance lessons, work on more creative projects, read 50 books, buy a house / town-home, be more diligent in attending yoga classes and eating healthy, and develop a deeper understanding of the gospel of Jesus Christ through scripture study, prayer and pondering. I wanted to do everything I could to heal from the heartache of my divorce and learn to trust God. Oh, and go to Paris!

Will any of it happen? Time will tell...