Rest & Distraction - Day 34

There are many obstacles to rest, but one I haven't mentioned yet has to do with our use of leisure. It is in our fumbled up relationship with rest and leisure that leaves us confused, easily distracted, and unable to form a healthy use of rest in our lives. Leisure is not a bad thing. Distraction is not necessarily a bad thing in our lives either. It all has to do with our relationship and use of these two things. We need a strong understanding of the roles they play in our lives. When these things are mixed up without definition or priority, it's easy to slip beyond leisure into lazy. Our fear of laziness or being perceived as lazy then becomes another thing in the way of developing healthy rest in our lives.

Rest & Distraction - Day 33

I was listening to a review of Amir ElSaffar's new jazz album Alchemy. In it, Kevin Whitehead writes, "Every idea becomes new again in time." When I heard that, I immediately thought, "Sabbath!"

Every idea becomes new again in time.

There are so many ways this resonates with the gifts of sabbath. There are so many ways music exemplifies sabbath living. Even the words I've found myself using are musica. Rhythm. Rest. Breath.

Imagine a song without any rests. Imagine a sentence without commas or periods. Imagine a piece of art without the use of white or black. Watch a bird in flight. It isn't constantly flapping its wings. Rest is embedded into all areas of life. Sabbath is for creation.

The practice of Lectio Divina uses rest and time as much as reading and speaking. Practice Lectio Divina today with a favorite Bible passage, poem, or quote. It can be a personal practice, or one shared with a small group.

What is a dream or idea that you have carried with you your entire life? How has it become new to you again and again in time?

Rest & Distraction - Day 32

When we're honest about the rest we need we are also honest about the ways our distractions keep us from rest. Imagine a spectrum. On one side of the spectrum we find focus, on the other, distraction. Rest is where we find our perspective. Too much focus can pull us from the life that surrounds us, the world, its experiences, creatures, relationships. Distraction is focus without roots, attention flitting from one moment to another. The gift of rest is in how it can meet us wherever we are, in the depths of our focus or in the flurry of distraction. Sabbath living is attuned to the rhythms of rest. We need sabbath everyday, for many reasons, but especially because we are in such a battle against distraction.

Rest & Distraction - Day 31

With this being Christmas day, I couldn't help but think about the beauty of a resting child. Some of the first moments in Jesus' life involved resting. As Jesus grew into adulthood rest remained important; though, in different ways.

Think about some of the special and important things that have happened in your life while you were resting.

Enjoy this Christmas week and rest...

Rest on the Flight of Egypt by Orazio Gentileschi

Week 5: Rest & Distraction - Day 29

In one of my first posts I briefly wrote about my relationship with the daily vitamin. Consistency has been a difficult thing for me with things like that. Turns out that's happened with the blog as well and I missed a couple days last week. I'm also not super good with numbers. They don't hold a lot of meaning for me in my brain. So with that combination, we find ourselves on day 29 (whatever that means). More importantly, we find ourselves on a new week with a new theme.

Rest and

D                      i       

       s                        t           r

a                                                 c                                      t                             i           on.