Be in the center of your head
Be grounded
Find your meditation space
Say hello to the presence of God
At Psychic Horizons, we have two main breaks during the year, one during the summer and one during the winter. I love having a break. All of us need a break from time to time, some time to rest, relax, reflect. Otherwise, we go a little nuts.
A break was actually one of the first things that God did. If you read the first chapter of Genesis, you read about all the things God created. Whether you believe the creation of the world actually happened this way or not is irrelevant, just use the story as a lesson.
Genesis 1:1 “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” Genesis then goes on to describe how God created days 1 through 6, and all the things that came with each day, such as the water and the sky, the land and vegetation, human beings, etc. But the 7th day was different.
But the 7th day was different.
“By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing, so on the seventh day he rested from all his work. And God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done.” God “rested” — or it is also translated as “God ceased from all the work of creating that he had done”. He ceased – he stopped. There was space from activity and creation.
Say hello to the ceasing of activity.
Notice that there was space. Give yourself some ceasing right now, some space.
Later on, the day that God ceased work and rested became the Covenant, or the agreement, to last forever for generations to come between God and the people.
Isn’t it interesting that the day when nothing is done became the day of the covenant – the day of the formal binding agreement.
“for anyone who enters God’s rest also rests from his or her own work, just as God did from his.”
Later on, in Hebrews in the New Testament the day of rest is referred to again. It is called “God’s rest”: “for anyone who enters God’s rest also rests from his or her own work, just as God did from his.”
I like the phrase “God’s rest” – “for anyone who enters God’s rest also rests from his or her own work, just as God did from his.”
“God’s rest” – rest from creativity, ceasing of activity.
Ask yourself how comfortable you are ceasing activity, separating from thought. Ask yourself how busy you tend to make yourself, how many things there are to do and to distract you. Notice all those distractions.
What are you distracting yourself from?
“God’s rest” is separation. Maybe it’s silence.
Look at creativity – where it comes from. It comes from silence, from non-activity, from where there is only possibility.
“God’s rest” is the space from which God originally created. In Genesis 1:1-2: “In the beginning…the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.”
Without silence – without God’s rest – you don’t have creativity.
Notice how uncomfortable many people – maybe you – are with silence. Often people need to fill the space – with talk, with music, TV, video, devices, some type of activity. These days there’s more noise and activity of some kind than ever. It can be difficult to find silence, even on vacation. It seems like most of the hotels and gardens around them have music coming in through speakers everywhere.
We’ve noticed here at Psychic Horizons that over the years people feel that they have less and less time for themselves, less time to meditate. Students are always talking about how busy they are, and they are. But maybe it’s time to set a new priority, to take back some seniority from the busy-ness, and give yourself God’s rest. A time to meditate, or be silent, or to cease activity.
So say hello to “God’s rest” – try it on for a minute. Say hello to how you can use it, as the silence beyond creativity, or just silence.
As always, thanks for supporting Psychic Horizons & the Church of Natural Grace with your sustainable giving! It truly makes a difference, both for us and for you.
Best regards,
Rev. Laura Hopper
Originally published March 26, 2019
