July, 2022
I recently returned from a vacation in Israel and Jordan. I love having a break. All of us need a break from time to time, some time to rest, relax, reflect. We go a little nuts if we don’t have some break in routine or work from time to time.
I didn’t actually do much resting on this trip, there was too much to do and see and eat. We did lots of walking, going to historical places, archeological digs, Roman ruins, places where “Jesus walked”, and of course, eating wonderful food and drink. We went to Petra, a very interesting place, and Wadi Rum, the beautiful desert where Lawrence of Arabia rode across on camels. We even rode on a camel, and I almost fell off as the camel got up and down. We walked up a very large and steep sand dune, and stayed in the desert in a bubble hotel. Not that much resting, but we did have a break in routine.
These days many people don’t get much of a break
These days many people don’t get much of a break. With cell phones, email and texting, many people are expected to work or be on call or connected in some way to work most of the day, night and even weekend, so that the break is never really there. It can feel like they’re “on” all the time.
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. God created the earth in 6 days, but on the 7th day, God rested.
There was space from activity and creation
God “rested” — or it is also translated as “God ceased from all the work of creating that he had done”. God ceased – 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.
I like the phrase “God’s rest” – for anyone who enters God’s rest also rests from his/her or her own work, just as God did.
“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. How do you feel when you’re not active or busy?
What are you distracting yourself from?
Notice how uncomfortable many people – maybe you – are with silence. Often people need to fill the space – with talk, with music, TV, video, devices, social media, 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. Even all the hotels and gardens around them have music coming in through speakers everywhere.
If conversation stops for whatever reason, often people are uncomfortable. Sometimes people fidget, or look around, or start talking about anything, just to cover up the silence. Notice how it feels in an elevator when there is no talking. Stopping conversation can be a great tool to see how people react in that kind of a situation! You can learn a lot about them.
“God’s rest” is separation. Maybe it’s silence.
You can also notice how you handle your problems, issues, and situations. Do you obsess about it, or think about it all day, or put a lot of effort into analyzing it? Sometimes you need a break from whatever you’re trying to work with. You can let it go temporarily.
You can look at an issue in meditation and work with it, but when you’re finished with your meditation, let it go until the next time. If you feel that you’re getting somewhere with it, keep at it in your meditations. But if you’re looking at it too much, and you feel like you’re getting frustrated, give it a break. Don’t look at it for a while, give it a rest and pick it up later. It will be fresher, with less energy on it.
Look at creativity – where it comes from. Creativity can come 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.
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