Saturday, October 10, 2009

THE SABBATH

There is a season for everything. In spring the trees wake up and new buds appear and in the fall the leaves are blown and scattered upon the earth and the tree looks barren and dead. But it is not. It is taking time to REST! !
The Sabbath is for me a time set aside, a moment, an hour, a day or even more to rest in the love that breathed into me the gift of life. It is a time when I allow my brain to be peaceful and listen to my heart tell me who I really am; to recognize my brokenness and my emptiness and know there is healing and that I can be filled spiritually; as I allow the stillness to speek to me.

For me it is that I am a child of God. It is time to reflect on creation and rejoice in it. It is a time to enjoy just "being" not longing for perfection or happiness but finding within myself a secure place of contentment. The spirit within us hungers and longs for the touch of the Master's hand, the great Spirit that still hovers over creation.

Life is full of disappointments and discouragements that muddy our sense of self and our sense of self-worth. I long to be healthy, to be full of energy, to do all the things that I feel excited about; but I find that my body grows weary and I run down like a dead battery. I have to be gentle and compassionate with myself and be thankful that I have been called to do only small things.

Life is full of noise and though I love listening to the radio or listening to music there are times when I need to be completely quiet. The mysteries of God come like a whisper, like the gentle breeze that blows in upon us, or like the sounds of nature; a bird or water spilling down over rocks, or the rustling leaves of the trees. Even the sound of rain that wakes me in the night makes me thankful for water that nourishes the earth and gives me fresh water to drink.

Life is full of beauty and wonder. Our world is full of colour. I read of a person emerging from a bomb shelther to a world of rubble and he saw just a small patch of green grass and he felt there was still hope in the midst of all the suffering. We are reminded to light a candle and to be a light ourselves. Prayer restores me when my light grows dim; this is not a prayer of asking but just receiving and resting in unconditional love. It is the knowledge that I am forgiven over and over again. No matter what saintly mask we try to put on we all sin in thought, in words in selfishness that demands it's own way. We all have emotional pain that demands to be in control and not wanting to allow ourselves to be vulnerable but the truth is life calls us to take risks to reach out beyond our own pain to be open to listening to the sadness and worry of others.

Life can shatter our illusions and self-denial but there is healing when we take time to be thankful. Thankfulness is good for the soul and the brain and the heart.

Use your imagination to see all that you have to be thankful for. "Take time to be Holy"
the words of the song remind us; take time to sit at the feet of Jesus and listen to his words and to feel his hand resting so gently upon you.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

I cant help but wonder mom why you see your self so negatively? Or at least it seems like it from your writing. Do you think God would be mad at you if you recognized your own strengths, tooted your own horn? I dont think that God is at all shy about boasting of what a wonderful guy/gal he/she is. (justed ducked, think a lightning bolt just wizzed past me!) NOt to say that any of us is 100% perfect, but mom, if after living 72 years or how ever long it is, there must be something you have conquered? I dont know, just seems like some happy should be mixed in with all of the self critism?
But, then that is just me.
Sandra

Anonymous said...

We are all very complex and sometimes our feelings just have a life all their own. I know that I have touched many people's lives as they have touched mine.

Conquered? I think I am still learning and questioning.

My visiting at the Nursing Home, my sharing at Home Group, praying for and listening to friens, being a mom, a grandmom and a great grandmom give my life meaning.

Your loving mom

mimishol said...

I would like to share with you that..
when i'm a kid i nearly migarted to god's place when i'm admitted to the icu and my whole body's already very cold and the there is no heart beat anymore finally ... i'm back..
so i hope everybody will appreciate their own lives.