GRANT ME GRACE this day
to rest and remember
that there is nothing I have to do,
nothing I have to buy or sell,
nothing I have to produce or consume
in order to become who I already am:
your beloved creation.
May your overworked creation
and those who cannot rest today
come to know the liberation of your sabbath.– Sam Hamilton-Poore
Earth Gospel: A Guide to Prayer for God’s Creation
Sitting silently as Gareth and Elysia drifts to sleep is a very restful experience. When they are wide awake, full of energy, that’s a different story. It’s the same for Ewan 🙂 But now, the stillness is a gift. The Time to rest and remember is precious.
The afternoon nap was a blessing today. Of course, it was after a good time of gathering to worship with the BLC family in the morning. Said another good bye today, prayed another prayer of blessing for the Danish couple who have been joining us the last months. It’s a great encouragement to see them whenever they are with us. It was short but sweet. Especially considering for most Europeans a regular participation at a Sunday Worship Service has become an anomaly. My prayer is their journey with BLC has enriched them in their walk as Christians. My only regret is that I did not manage to sing a Danish Christian song before they left today. We will have lots of time to do that in eternity.
Which leads me back to now. While I strongly believe in the earthy use of our life as Christ-followers, the eternal perspective of a kind of life beyond death, beyond the evil and suffering we experience today, does bring a deeper dimension in how we live on earth. I’ve long given up on the “pie in the sky” kind of Christianity, and yet, I’m not satisfied with “it’s all about us here and now” kind of faith either.
I wonder how the “Sabbath” relates to all this since, it was the God who created the world, and the history in which we are engaged in the journey today who was the first who rested after 6 days of creation as recorded in the book of Beginnings – Genesis. And we use the word “eternal rest” for those who have closed their chapters here on earth. So, in between the “Sabbath” in Genesis, and the “Sabbath” after the book of Revelation in the New testament, here we are catching a glimpse of it whenever we can in our mini-foretaste “Sabbaths” to rest and remember.
This rest and remember is more than catching up on our sleep. And for some catching up on house chores, or shopping, or entertainment, or whatever. When the dust settles even for those good things, we need to do. It’s about remembering who we are, and who makes us what we are. God’s beloved creation living in this overworked creation.
That’s one message of liberation which needs to be heard today.
He and she who has ears, let them hear.
Gareth and Elysia are fast asleep now. My breathing has slowed down. And this meditation will be drawn to a close. As it’s evening and morning (soon), Epiphany is drawing to a close with Transfiguration Sunday, Ash Wednesday is coming. I’d like to start the week on Sunday evening before the clock strikes 12 midnight preparing for Lent earlier, and say it’s good . a pretty good day.
