The Rhythm of Rest

The idea of resting and relaxing is built into the rhythm of life. God intended all of us to have time to chill. The creation story emphasised the importance God has attached to rest. The problem is that we have become influenced by an idea that tells us success is measured by material possessions and power. This means that people now work every moment in order to achieve the success that others demand from them. During the month of July Sanctuary First is seeking to go back to a more biblical approach to success and encourage all of us to see the significance of taking structured periods of rest and recuperation and to build these periods into our daily and weekly routines. Using the letters that make up the word ‘rest’ we have suggested four words that will help and enable us to become successful and healthy people engaging with the Rhythms of life. At the centre of a healthy life is a spiritual life. We have invited the writer of the prayers for week 1 to concentrate on prayers that will help us all slow down and experience the impact of being refreshed. It is not enough to simply rest it is essential that our resting brings with it a time of refreshment and re-energising. Our prayerswill be engaging with a plea that our bodies, souls and spirits might be refreshed. There is also a need for the world around us and our environment to be refreshed. In week two the idea is to think how rest leads to enjoyment. So often people are so stressed that they can’t enjoy the good things in life. However one of the results of being rested is the shear enjoyment we receive from so many aspects of our lives, from our family to our work. Being rested can mean we can also enjoy the creation and the world around us. In week three the Rhythm of rest is to call us to the place of stillness. To be still is to be able to listen, to people to places and to be able to practice the presence of Christ. To be still is to be grounded in the reality of God’s eternity. It means that the past and the future and even the present hold no fear. It is to be still and know Week four invites us to think. It is the last letter of rest it is time to think to be open to the creativity and the opportunities that time brings into our lives. However it is also a call to think beyond time into eternity. Perhaps to think as CS Lewis did about the sheer joy of encountering school being out and the Summer holidays beginning an opportunity to relax in the joyful expectation of an everlasting Summer.