A few months ago our pastor taught on the concept of rest. He used a phrase that really stuck with me: "we don't accidentally rest." The more I considered this, the more I realize that rest is a choice we make.
Some days we surrender to rest as we collapse on the couch after a draining day. Other days we seek it : we make rest happen for ourselves because we know we need it.
How do we proactively incorporate some quiet?
Our ultimate example was Jesus, who got up early and went off by himself to pray in solitude.
Today we may be soul weary from a whole host of stressors on a personal, family, community, or national level.
We may not be able to slip out the back door to a mountain lake for true solitude, but we may be able to carve out a few minutes before the rest of the family is awake.
We may be able to snatch a couple minutes in the car before we exit to start our work day.
We may be able to pause at our desks before joining colleagues for lunch.
It's not really about how we do it, I think it's about being intentional in those small moments as we transition from one activity to another, moving gently forward with a quiet attitude.
Collectively, those brief pauses of prayer can soften our edges with each other. And our "one nation under God" can certainly benefit from that.
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