Rest
Come unto me, all that labor and are heavy
laden. I will give you rest.
Jesus
Sometimes the most urgent thing you can
possibly do is take a complete rest.
Ashleigh Brilliant
Each day, the man, dressed in his Sunday best, would visit the facility to have lunch with his wife. Each day, at noon. Not 12:01. Not 11:59. At 12 noon, every day.
She did not recognize her husband, and almost every day did not know who he was, except as a kindly gentleman who helped her with her food.
One day the man injured his arm. The injury required stitches and a visit to the emergency room. As a nurse cared for the wound, the man noticed, with alarm, that the clock said, "11:45."
"I need to go," he told the nurse.
"Good heavens, why?"
"To join my wife for lunch," he said. And he explained how he visited her every day. How he helped her with her lunch. How he made sure he was there at 12 noon. And how most days she did not recognize him.
"Well then," the nurse said, "you can just wait a minute. If she doesn't even recognize you, there's no reason you need to be there at noon."
"Yes," he told her. "There is. I need to be there at noon because, even though she does not recognize me, I still recognize her."
In that space, he finds rest.
In the rest, he is at home, and finds love, grace and freedom. Because there is no need to impress or prove or earn.
This kind of rest is non-negotiable.
Because we draw sustenance there.
Because we are anchored (or grounded) there.
Because we are oriented, and re-connected there.
We are, quite literally, present.
I know this: when we do not find this kind of rest, we pay a price. There is a dis-connect.
Meaning that I am disconnected from my emotions, or my senses, or my heart. As a result (paraphrasing Mary Karr), "We live life in miniature. In lieu of large feelings--sorrow, fury and joy--we experience their junior counterparts--anxiety, irritation and excitement."
I can't tell you where that place of rest is for you. (Although for curiosity, I did Google "places to rest," and found the 10 Best Cemeteries--Burial Places--in the World. Oh. Well, that wasn't the kind of rest I had in mind.)
I do know that there are two kinds of rest.
Passive rest: where there is an absence of striving.
And Active rest: an intention (or intentional choosing) or openness to draw sustenance or nourishment. To do that, this is a place (or space) we must go without agenda, without expectations or demand. Or, at the very least, the willingness to suspend the agenda.
While we all know St. Augustine's reminder that "our hearts are restless until we find our rest in Thee," I am certain this does not mean that God is a place of free-floating mental euphoria. My rest, even in God, is grounded. In other words, I find this presence of God (the hands and face of God), in others who are around me.
It's just so easy to inundate our rest with stuff. Yes, we want that place of rest. But we sound like the man who told his doctor, "I need to learn how to relax. But I want to relax better and faster than anyone has before." So what's the secret? After all, what is rest, if we can't weight it down with instructions, directives and disclaimers? Am I resting or pausing correctly?
For this man, 12 noon was not an obligation. It served as a reminder (as does liturgy or ritual or prayer), and it allowed the permission (freedom) to rest.
I have been accused of being a person who enjoys ruts. If I find a restaurant I like, I eat there. If I find a table in that restaurant that I like, I sit here. If I find a meal I enjoy, I order it faithfully. So, in that case, people are right about me. I do the same thing on vacation. When in Hawaii I never miss the sunset. Each day, an hour before sunset, I find a chair near the water's edge and savor the unfolding pageant. I stay until twenty minutes after the sun disappears beyond the horizon, and tonight the colors of the clouds have scrolled pink and peach and tangerine. And a little lavender. It is a fitting benediction on the day.
For gentle reminders to PAUSE---to rest---look below.
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Comes the Dawn
After a while you learn the subtle difference
Between holding a hand and chaining a soul.
And you learn that love doesn't mean leaning
And company doesn't mean security,
And you begin to understand that kisses aren't contracts
And presents aren't promises,
And you begin to accept your defeats with your head held high and eyes opened,
With the grace of a woman, not the grief of a child.
You learn to build your roads on today
Because tomorrow's ground is too uncertain for plans,
And futures have a way of falling down in mid-flight.
After a while you learn that even sunshine burns if you get too much,
So you plant your own garden and decorate your own soul,
Instead of waiting for someone to bring you flowers,
And you learn that you really can endure,
That you really are strong.
And you really do have worth.
And you learn and learn...
With every goodbye comes the dawn.
Veronica A. Shoffstall
The Garden
What I want to know, please, is
what is possible, and what is not.
If it is not, then I am for it.
My heart is out of its flesh-phase.
I am done with all of it, the habits, the patience.
Whoever I was, it is growing hazy and forgettable.
Whoever I am, it is for mere appearance's sake.
It is for coin, and foolishness,
and I am thinking of something better.
All morning it has been raining.
In the language of the garden, this is happiness.
The tissues perk and shine.
Truly this is the poem worth keeping.
A mossy house anyone with sense would enter
as soon as the soul begins
to desire the impossible.
I have never felt so young.
Mary Oliver
Presence of God
At the still point of my turning world,
At the core of my being,
I wait to hear and feel the gentle presence of God
Who calls me to open and let go.
Can I go to that place where God is calling me?
Amen.
BE INSPIRED THIS WEEK
Terry Videos youtube.com/TerryHersheyMedia
Rest in the Garden. Photos from Terry's garden.
Now archived on Zenfolio. New photos added this week. Check them out, and enjoy.
Terry's garden
Watch Terry on 30 Good Minutes - The Power of Pause
New Video. Plus, Video interview. Plus, Audio download.
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FAVORITES from last week:
St. Vincent's Medical Center in Portland, Oregon -- "Our employees put together this video to generate breast cancer awareness: the Pink Glove Dance. We had a ton of fun putting this together and hope it inspires others to join in the cause."
PinkGloveDance
Piano healing Songs at Christmas - Ron Noecker
Christmas
RESOURCES TO HELP US PAUSE
1. NEW Terry videos with pause
reminders
Find them on our site
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Or, the new Terry
Hershey YouTube channel. Please pass
the word.
Find Terry at youtube.com/user/TerryHersheyMedia
2. NEW Pause DVD.
dvd-becoming-more
3. Terry's NEW
BLOG. . .do less, live more.
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4. Rest in the Garden. Photos from Terry's
garden.
Now
archived on Zenfolio.
terrydhershey.zenfolio
5. Power of Pause Book
52 Best Sabbath Moments
from the
past six years
THE POWER OF
PAUSE: BECOMING MORE BY DOING
LESS,
power-of-pause.htm
Any
questions call 800-524-5370.
A TO-DO LIST:
1.Take the PAUSE assessment
quiz.
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2. Buy The Power of Pause
3. Recommend The Power of Pause to a friend
4. Buy The Power of Pause for a
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5. Write a review on Amazon.com
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NEW Reviews on The Power of
Pause
Suzanne Beecher -- www.dearreader
If your Energy Fairy has been letting you
down, here's a great book I discovered, "The
Power of Pause: Becoming More by Doing Less"
by Terry Hershey. I love the book, it's on my
holiday list to buy for friends and I have 12
copies to give away to readers. To enter the
drawing, go to: tinyurl.com
SOJOURNERS GOD'S POLITICS BLOG, Cathleen
Falsani, 11/12
blog.sojo.net
Review from Spirituality and Practice
spiritualityandpractice
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