Desperately seeking Sabbath

 

What is this life if, full of care, We have no time to stand and stare?- No time to stand beneath the boughs And stare as long as sheep or cows: No time to see, when woods we pass, Where squirrels hide their nuts in grass: No time to see, in broad daylight, Streams full of stars, like skies at night: No time to turn at Beauty’s glance, And watch her feet, how they can dance: No time to wait till her mouth can Enrich that smile her eyes began? A poor life this if, full of care, We have no time to stand and stare. WH Davies This poem came to mind as I've been reflecting on the process of re-opening, of reforming, of restarting, of new beginnings as we pace the road out of lockdown. There has been much talk of new beginnings, of things changing, of the old passing away and the new being allowed to flourish as life has forced us to stop and stare.  There is a lot of talk about how lockdown life has given us time to reflect and contemplate the meaning of life, our reason for doing what we do, and particularly, in my role, where we are going as churches.  For some people, this might be true. Exciting new things might come from months of planning and reflecting, of waiting on God. But in my circumstance, and in many others circumstances where the work just hasn't stopped, that time of pause, we're still waiting for.  My life has been one long race in the last year or so - suddenly moving the way the church works years beyond where we were as we embraced technology with a crash. Trying to love and serve the community that we're called to in the best way possible with increasing needs for practical and pastoral support. Life hasn't stopped and I, for one, am exhausted. And as we begin to open up again, I am aware that I am already at capacity, beyond capacity where the energy to keep going is much lower than it has ever been, yet the need to re-open is pressing.  I am almost constantly wondering where rest will ever come.  You see, because we have been so far beyond anything normal than whatever normal is, the pressure to find the normal that was is huge. And when the normal that was, was so much more than capacity should have allowed, the never ending pull is straining quite hard right now.  And that's before we ever get to the place of processing the trauma of the last year and a bit. On the seventh day God rested. He had used a huge amount of energy in creating the world and rest was important - not only to appreciate all that had been, but also to bring to the world a key part of living - that of the need to rest.  When Moses brought down from Mount Sinai the ten commandments, there in the centre of the commandments was that of rest - of sabbath. It sits as a hinge between the importance of right relationship with God and the importance of right relationship with the world and people in it. It sits there reminding us that without rest, we cannot live, we cannot thrive.  As we find our way out of the roadmap, remember that we are not made to move from one marathon to another, that rest in between is important.  As we find our way out of the roadmap, we need to remember that it is God's way we seek, and that God's way puts in rest, right there, smack bang in the middle. And that rest is not just sleep. That rest is not just a day off. That rest is about finding our place once again, not in doing as much as we can to find normal, but in seeking the new regular God is calling us to.  Take some time to just hang about. We've not been allowed to do that for a while.