Nicole Ault

Keeping the Sabbath

Written by Sarah Borger

Even amid the busyness of school, Nicole Ault takes time to continue one of her family’s traditions: taking a Sabbath. This means that on Sundays Nicole chooses not to work on homework or other projects and instead rests and relaxes.

The one constant to Nicole’s Sabbath tradition is rising early for church. The afternoons vary. Sometimes she goes for a walk to Checker Records with a friend, grabs some piping hot coffee, and chats in the cozy Sunday afternoon sun. Other days she snuggles into bed with a cup of tea, flips through a good book, and falls into blissfully lazy sleep. In the evenings she calls home.

If she really needs to study, Nicole allows herself to work after dinner. But this doesn’t happen very often.

“I have an incentive,” she explained. “I look forward to being able to take Sunday off. When you have that motivation to have a day off, you do get more done than you think you could.”

When I was an overwhelmed sophomore, Nicole encouraged me to try taking a Sabbath. She talked about the idea in deeper terms than just “taking a break.” As I began to have more Sabbath conversations with her, I realized that the need for a Sabbath goes beyond a tired college student needing some shut-eye.

“I think we’re made as humans to rest regularly,” Nicole said. “Taking the Sabbath is a way of recognizing that. It helps us to take a step back from the work that’s engrossing us.”

Thanks to Nicole’s encouragement, I started taking a Sabbath during sophomore year, and now as a senior, I still look forward to my day of rest each week. This week, I’ll be spending my Sabbath with my sister. And Nicole? She’s looking forward to a good nap and reading some Marilynne Robinson.

Sarah BorgerSarah Borger, ’18, is an English and Spanish major from northern Indiana. In her spare time, she enjoys photography, adventuring, naps, and consuming obnoxious amounts of chocolate.