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New from Journey Films:  

An Ancient Tradition Meets the Modern World

• Award-winning filmmaker Martin Doblmeier explores what the revolutionary concept of a day of rest can mean for a burned-out world.
• Released to PBS stations nationwide June 1, 2023 via American Public Television. Featuring theologian Judy Fentress-Williams of Virginia Theological Seminary
• Streaming on-demand at journeyfilms.org ; on Youtube at https://youtu.be/WTfzePC5lt0?si=RFJxYrDU_Y8MfEfm . Visit the Journey Films Youtube Channel at https://www.youtube.com/@JourneyFilms .

In his new film SABBATH , award-winning filmmaker Martin Doblmeier explores the religious, secular, psychological, and sociological implications of a weekly day of rest for a “profoundly burned-out world.” The wide-ranging two-hour documentary delves into the history and practice of an ancient concept that is rooted in the biblical story of creation.

Practicing Sabbath may be a remedy for what ails the modern world—whether it’s a 24-hour religious observance, or a secular respite from the nonstop pace. “Two-thirds of Americans say that they’re working more than 40 hours week,” says sociologist Notre Dame Tricia Bruce. “We work more in order to sustain the same level of living,”

Internist Dr. Sigve Tonstad notes that the increased use of prescription medications for acid reflex and mood disorders indicates just how stressed-out society is.

“Our world now runs 24/7 with little distinction given to the day or the hour.

Sabbath challenges us to set aside time for the sacred, to set sacred time apart from ordinary time and do it regularly,” says Doblmeier. “It has been an important and life-guiding practice across the ages and it’s needed now more than ever.”

“Sabbath is not simply a pious teaching,” says theologian Norman Wirzba, of Duke Divinity School and author of Living the Sabbath . “What’s at stake is the very meaning of life.” Rabbi David Seidenberg says, “The Sabbath is made to teach humanity something.”

Doblmeier and the Journey Films team traveled coast-to-coast exploring Sabbath beliefs and practice, meeting authors – both secular and religious, monks, theologians, clergy, farmers, physicians, and practitioners both young and more senior. He shows the profound beauty of the practice across traditions, the principles of justice that undergird it, and the potential it offers for healing a stressed-out world:

• Judaism : “Shabbat is the Jewish cathedral,” says Susannah Heschel, professor at Dartmouth College, referring to the metaphor used by her father, Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel in his classic The Sabbath .“Sabbath arrives with sunset, we don’t make it arrive.”
• Pandemic and the Sabbath : One chapter in the film focuses on the challenges posed by COVID-19 to public gatherings for Sabbath worship. “Catholic worship is very communitarian,” says popular TV personality Robert Barron, Bishop of the Catholic Diocese of WinonaRochester. “That form of worship is not something that can be done through a camera lens.”
• Sabbath and the Environment : The Sabbath principle of not taking too much from the soil is modeled at Princeton Theological Seminary’s Farminary, which integrates theological education with small-scale agriculture. “Our exhaustion and the exhaustion of the broader creation are two sides of the same coin,” says director Nate Stucky.
• Sabbath and the African American experience : Judy Fentress-Williams of Virginia Theological Seminary discusses the critical role Sabbath played for enslaved people and how, over time “church for black people became everything.”
• Seventh-day Adventists : For Rev. Michael Mickens, pastor of South Jackson SDA Church in Jackson, Mississippi, keeping the Sabbath means practicing righteousness, justice, and compassion towards those in need, principles reflected in the church’s ministries that includes a health clinic that is open on their Saturday Sabbath.
• Sabbath and Justice : “In the day of Shabbat one is living in potentially radical equality with the people around you,” says eco-theologian Rabbi David Seidenberg. This is amplified in the Jewish observance of a Sabbath year: “In the Shmita year, one is doing that to an even greater degree. The rule is that all debts are forgiven.”
• Latino Catholics : Sunday Mass at downtown Los Angeles’s Our Lady Queen of Angels parish is a vibrant Sabbath observance and community gathering. For a largely immigrant congregation, community organizer Joseph Tomás McKellar says that Pope Francis’s words are important “If you have the right to work you also have the right to rest.”
• Islam : Muslims do not speak in terms of Sabbath. However, the Friday Jummah Prayer, offers an opportunity to pause, rest, reflect. Imam Khalid Latif, Executive Director of the Islamic Center at NYU quotes the Koran: “Indeed in the remembrance of God, hearts find rest.”
• Unplugging : A form of a secular Sabbath, the Unplugging movement encourages disconnecting from devices for a 24-hour period to take time for self-care, family, and friends. But Judith Shulevitz, author of The Sabbath World , adds one thing missing is that “we all have to do this at the same time. If we don’t, we’ll never be able to relax. We don’t trust that our coworker is unplugging too.”
• Romantic Sabbath : Philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau and poet William Wordsworth advocated a poetic ideal of cultural and personal Sabbath.

Doblmeier looks into the fascinating history of Sabbath, from its biblical origins to the present day. Sunday closing laws, preventing stores and other commercial enterprises from operating on the Sabbath, go back to the early founding of America. Those “Blue Laws” in the U.S. were supported in the early 20th century by the nascent labor union movement, “a surprisingly religious story that does converge around Sabbath,” according to American religious historian Thomas Kidd. Closing laws (which did not extend to those who celebrate Sabbath on Saturday), are largely gone, but still exist in towns such as Bergen, New Jersey, where the mayor says that Sunday closures allow the town “one day when we can catch our breath and relax.”

The Journey Films site ( www.journeyfilms.com ) offers extensive Education and Outreach materials to facilitate presentations, conversations and discussions about SABBATH in churches, schools and organizations.

ABOUT JOURNEY FILMS Journey Films was founded in 1983 by award-winning filmmaker Martin Doblmeier as a television and film production company specializing in religion, faith and spirituality. Journey Films has produced more than 30 documentary films that have aired on PBS, ABC, NBC, the BBC and on broadcast outlets around the world, including BONHOEFFER, BACKS AGAINST THE WALL : The Howard Thurman Story, REVOLUTION OF THE HEART: The Dorothy Day Story, and SPIRITUAL AUDACITY: The Abraham Joshua Heschel Stor y. Journey’s films have been translated into more than a dozen languages. In all, Journey Films have won three regional Emmy Awards, eight Gabriel Awards for the nation’s best film on a topic of religion, three Gold Awards at the US International Film and Television Festival, the Sun Valley Film Festival and many others.

ABOUT MARTIN DOBLMEIER Martin holds degrees in Religious Studies, Broadcast Journalism and three honorary degrees in Fine Arts and Humane Letters. Since 1983 he has produced and directed more than 30 films focused on religion, faith and spirituality. Martin combines a lifelong interest in religion with a passion for storytelling. Over the years he has traveled on location to more than forty countries to profile numerous religious leaders, spiritual communities, heads of state and Nobel Laureates. His films explore how belief can lead individuals to extraordinary acts, how spirituality creates and sustains communities, and how faith is lived in extraordinary ways.

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‘sabbath’ invites us to reclaim a countercultural good.

(OSV News) As president and founder of Journey Films, Martin Doblmeier has produced and directed more than 30 films focused on religion, faith and spirituality since 1984. Martin combines a lifelong interest in religion with a passion for storytelling. He has traveled on location to more than 40 countries to profile numerous religious leaders, spiritual communities, heads of state and Nobel laureates. His films explore how belief can lead individuals into extraordinary action, how spirituality creates and sustains communities, and how faith is lived in unexpected ways.

Charlie Camosy: For many Catholics, “keep holy the Lord’s day” basically means something like “go to church.” But if you are making a film on the topic — and calling it “ SABBATH ” — you clearly think it should be much more than this.

Martin Doblmeier: For many people — especially Catholics — the starting place for thinking about Sabbath is too often through a legalistic lens. Sabbath is a commandment given to us by God, and we show our faithfulness by going to church. Growing up Catholic, I remember my parents and teachers reminding me that to miss Sunday Mass was a mortal sin. For a young person that was a heavy and binding weight, with eternal consequences.

Many of us can remember when all the stores and shops were closed on Sunday — a holdover from the so-called “blue laws.” While the guidelines were intended to direct our hearts toward a loving God and the need for weekly rest, the rules could be seen as heavy handed.

Looking back, I appreciate the guidance but I focus more on the underlying “spirit” of Sabbath. In his 1998 apostolic letter “ Dies Domini ,” Pope John Paul II invited the faithful to “rediscover with new intensity” the meaning of the day with all its mystery, “its celebration, its significance for Christian and human life.”

That is what I tried to do with this film, “SABBATH” — to rediscover Sabbath. I came to see it more as a gift than a burden, one that ties together all the dimensions of our love of God, our care for ourselves and others, and our reverence for all of God’s creation.

Countercultural

Camosy: It seems like such a film couldn’t come at a better time, especially for the consumerist West. Rates of anxiety and depression are through the roof. Daydreaming — or even mere silence — can seem like an endangered species. The pressure to create one’s own identity, rather than be still and encounter the living God, is overwhelming a generation of young people. How does “SABBATH” speak to this?

Doblmeier: At its core, Sabbath is countercultural. The dominant message in the culture is that if you are going to compete you need to constantly work. Sabbath invites us to work hard but also take a regular weekly rest. The culture teaches us to mistrust others. Sabbath teaches us to be open to trusting others, especially our coworkers, as we take that one day off. Sabbath also teaches us to trust God to care for God’s own creation for a day. Sabbath is not just about resting but being willing to let the world rest as well.

Popular culture celebrates individualism. Sabbath encourages us to build community and discover rest in community. Young people, especially — who suffered greatly from not being able to gather in community during the pandemic — are hungry for community, and Sabbath is a proven way to respond to that hunger.

More than relaxing

Camosy: I think you’ve got a story to tell from a visit to Our Lady Queen of Angels parish in Los Angeles?

Doblmeier: Yes! One week we filmed at historic Our Lady Queen of Angels parish in Los Angeles. The church is directly across the street from the old city plaza, so it has come to be known as La Placita, the little plaza.

It’s a vibrant congregation, where the majority are new or recently arrived immigrants from Mexico and Central America. Many work in the service industry — in hotels and restaurants, groundskeeping or construction work. They work the blue-collar jobs that keep America running. The pastor, Father Arturo Corral-Nevarez, says that when people extend their hands for Communion he sees “these are worker hands.” Many in the parish are also undocumented, which creates a different form of stress.

La Placita shows how Sabbath rest is about much more than relaxing the body one day a week. When people facing similar life struggles and dangers come together for worship and a meal in a safe atmosphere of harmony and welcome, that becomes a time when the soul can rest.

We witnessed 50 baptisms over what the parish called a “typical” weekend. As we were leaving, Father Arturo thanked me for making a film about Sabbath. He said even though he has been a parish priest for decades, faithfully performing his weekly duties, he hadn’t given thought to deeper dimensions of Sabbath, himself. His sermon that Sunday was an invitation to his congregation to revisit the meaning of Sabbath.

Reverence for creation

Camosy: We think of the primary need for a Sabbath in urban areas — so much stress, noise, congestion — but rural communities have their own challenges. How might a Sabbath be most useful in such communities?

Doblmeier: Sabbath rest certainly speaks to those who live in more urban areas, where the noise and pace of life can seem like an assault. But in ancient Israel the original 39 laws of Shabbat forbade things like harvesting, plowing, threshing — all farmer’s chores. For Orthodox Jews, those laws still have great significance, but for many others honoring the Sabbath in a rural setting today means listening to the land. It means showing reverence for creation and treating the land as if it is given by God as a sacred trust.

People once understood that you cared for the land because you were expected to pass it on to the next generation, and in better shape than you received it. That is how every civilization progressed. In a culture where profits take priority, that idea can seem almost naïve.

In “ Laudato Si ‘” Pope Francis says the creation accounts in Genesis — which conclude with God creating Sabbath rest — suggest that “human life is grounded in three fundamental and closely intertwined relationships with God, with our neighbor and with the earth itself.” That speaks to the very heart of Sabbath.

Farming with a Sabbath awareness means not taking from the land more than you give back. We are instructed to let fields go fallow every seven years to follow the Sabbath cycles. It’s not only a Sabbath directive, but it makes good sense for the health of the land. In the film, we acknowledge that today the land is clearly showing signs of over extraction, neglect and abuse. By every indication the clock is ticking.

Camosy: How can our readers see the film?

Doblmeier: “SABBATH” was released nationwide on PBS stations June 1, so viewers can go to their local PBS station and enter “SABBATH,” and watch the entire two-hour documentary. They can also watch it for free at our site www.journeyfilms.com . There they will also find a wealth of background materials, news, public screening events and other helpful information.

Charles Camosy

Charlie Camosy is Professor of Medical Humanities at the Creighton School of Medicine and Moral Theology Fellow at St. Joseph Seminary in New York.

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New documentary sabbath rolls out to public tv stations nationwide.

Journey Films production is now available to view on the PBS App

SABBATH title card

Walter Brueggemann and Martin Doblmeier during production of SABBATH

Owings Mills, MD, United States, June 12, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- SABBATH , the latest production from Journey Films founder and award-winning filmmaker Martin Doblmeier, is rolling out to public TV stations nationwide beginning this month. The two-hour film was released on June 1 and is currently available to view online  and using the PBS App . (Local broadcast schedules vary, check local listings for airdates and times.)

In the film, Doblmeier explores the religious, secular, psychological, and sociological implications of a weekly day of rest for what he describes as a “profoundly burned-out world.” SABBATH delves into the history and traditions of an ancient concept rooted in the biblical story of creation and explores the observance’s potential to serve as a remedy for what ails the modern world – whether it takes the form of a 24-hour religious observance or a secular respite from the nonstop pace of life.

Additional information about the program and a suite of educational materials are available at journeyfilms.com/sabbath .

“Our world now runs 24/7 with little distinction given to the day or the hour. What the practice of sabbath challenges us to do is set aside time for the sacred, to set sacred time apart from ordinary time, and do it regularly,” says Doblmeier. “It has been a practice across the ages, and it's needed now more than ever.”

Told as a collection of short stories, SABBATH weaves together the practices of several different faith traditions to paint a broad picture of the subject throughout history and in contemporary life. Viewers follow Doblmeier from coast to coast as he explores sabbath beliefs and practices; gains insights from scholars, monks, theologians, clergy, farmers, physicians, and other practitioners; and discovers the profound beauty of the practice across traditions, the principles of justice that undergird it, and the potential it offers for healing a stressed-out world.

SABBATH is produced by Journey Films and presented nationally by Maryland Public Television (MPT) . The film is distributed by American Public Television .

About Maryland Public Television Maryland Public Television (MPT) is a statewide, public-supported TV network and Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) affiliate, offering entertaining, informative, educational, and inspiring content delivered by traditional broadcasting and streaming on TVs, computers, and mobile devices. A state agency, it operates under the auspices of the Maryland Public Broadcasting Commission. MPT creates and distributes local, regional, and national content and is a frequent winner of regional Emmy® Awards.  MPT’s commitment to educators, parents, caregivers, and learners of all ages is delivered through instructional events and Thinkport.org . MPT’s year-round community engagement activities connect viewers with resources on a wide range of topics.  For more information visit mpt.org .

About Journey Films Journey Films was founded in 1983 by award-winning filmmaker Martin Doblmeier as a television and film production company specializing in religion, faith, and spirituality. Journey Films has produced more than 30 documentary films that have aired on PBS, ABC, NBC, the BBC, and on broadcast outlets around the world, including BONHOEFFER, BACKS AGAINST THE WALL: The Howard Thurman Story , REVOLUTION OF THE HEART: The Dorothy Day Story , and SPIRITUAL AUDACITY: The Abraham Joshua Heschel Story . Journey’s films have been translated into more than a dozen languages. In all, Journey Films has won three regional Emmy® Awards, eight Gabriel Awards for the nation’s best film on a topic of religion, three Gold Awards at the US International Film and Television Festival, the Sun Valley Film Festival, and many others.

About Martin Doblmeier Doblmeier holds degrees in Religious Studies, Broadcast Journalism, and three honorary degrees in Fine Arts and Humane Letters. Since 1984 he has produced and directed more than 30 films focused on religion, faith, and spirituality. Doblmeier combines a lifelong interest in religion with a passion for storytelling. Over the years he has traveled on location to more than forty countries to profile numerous religious leaders, spiritual communities, heads of state, and Nobel Laureates. His films explore how belief can lead individuals to extraordinary acts, how spirituality creates and sustains communities, and how faith is lived in extraordinary ways.

Attachments

Saturday, June 24 on MPT: Part 1 at 7pm and Part 2 at 8pm

SABBATH: A Conversation  Tuesday, June 6 at 7pm

Join MPT & Journey Films to discuss Martin Doblmeier's latest documentary, SABBATH. 

Guests will be provided a link to watch the full two-hour documentary. Then, join us for a conversation exploring many aspects of the Sabbath including its impact on tradition, community, history, justice, and more.  

We'll be joined by:

• Martin Doblmeier - President & Founder of Journey Films, Filmmaker, and discussion moderator
• Nathan Stucky - Director of The Farminary Project at Princeton Theological Seminary
• Judy Fentress-Williams, Ph.D. - Author and Professor of Old Testament at Virginia Theological Seminary
• Daniel Singer - Cantor at Stephen Wise Free Synagogue

About the program

SABBATH explores the Biblical commandment, “Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy” (Exodus 20:8). In our current high-paced culture, a balanced and prayerful lifestyle may be more critical than ever. New studies in major publications point to how Americans are “burned out” and how it leads to physical and mental complications, family stress and other chronic issues. But more importantly, the film explores how keeping holy the day has served over centuries to strengthen and fortify both the religious practices of individuals as well as congregational life.

SABBATH weaves together a number of stories across different faith traditions to paint a broad picture of the subject throughout history and in contemporary life. Emphasis is given to stories where a younger generation is finding nourishment in Sabbath practices. At Princeton Theological Seminary, students are creating a pioneering farm project to serve the wider community based on Sabbath principals. For nearly two decades, students at Life Seventh-day Adventist Church at the University of California Berkeley have committed to a Sabbath practice of no Saturday study and prioritized worship and community gathering despite the highly competitive academic environment. And academically… they are flourishing.

Exploring the history of one of the world’s most important spiritual practices and its timeless relevance for a stressed-out modern world. From the Biblical accounts of Creation to the Ten Commandments, from the Puritans landing in the New World to the contemporary practice of a “tech-sabbath” and a more eco-friendly approach to farming, SABBATH ties together history, health practices and our search for a more sustainable way of life.

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