Over the past few months many of us have come to secretly appreciate the slower pace of life. Working from home has made family life easier; caring for children and running a home have blended together, rather than racing into an office through peak hour traffic, and struggling to get home on time to manage family life, and have time and space for children. COVID has sparked a long-overdue debate about how to shift the frenetic way we’ve been living our lives in recent times
It would be good to pause and be thoughtful about what the new ‘normal’ should look like, and how we could build a less hectic post-COVID world, rather than simply picking up where we left off and re-establishing old patterns and practises because that’s the simplest way. Time to press the pause button and to ask what is really valuable is always worthwhile, but we so often bypass reflection or waiting for quick action and quick decisions.
The principle of Sabbath rest reminds us that God built rest into the heart of creation. The creation story tells us that in six days, God created, and then on the seventh, God rested. The principle of Sabbath was never intended to be about rules and restrictions, but about freedom and peace and rest. If we take this principle of rest into our lives, and become intentional about building this God-given gift into our world, then we will grab hold of this opportunity to re-think life with both hands; adequate rest, a less frenetic lifestyle, and above all, space for spiritual reflection and for building our relationship with God.
And yet, in a strange way, the past few months have also been exhausting. Learning new technologies and dealing with the stressful situation and our absence from family and friends have made us weary. So, today, into all our weariness, Jesus says, ‘Come to me’ and I will give you rest. Do you long for this way of living? Are you weary? Well Jesus says ‘Come to me, stop for a while, and I’ll give you deep rest for your soul.’
Deep soul rest. How good does that sound? Whatever our life pattern, whether that includes a frenetic pace of work, a busy home life, or even trying to manage the stress and demands of being a grand-parent, let’s take this ‘rest’ principle seriously. Now is the time to re-think so many things, so let’s do it!
In peace, Mother Lynda