Resting in God

It is summer time both inside and outside of us.  A time of possibility.  An opportunity for the rhythm of our whole being to change.  A time to seek for rest.  Time maybe to discover and rediscover in these summer days how to rest in God who is indeed our rest, our locus of departure and our point of arrival.

“Come to Me, all you who labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light”.   Matthew 11:28-30

Jesus seems to be saying to us to put the frenzied demands of life aside for a while and just be with Me. There, you will find rest.  The Psalmist writes:

“Be silent before the Lord and wait expectantly for Him; do not be agitated by one who prospers in his way, by the one who carries out evil plans”. Psalm 37:7

We can do this by simply finding a quiet place to seek God in prayer; quieting our inner voice and just listening to the interior working of the Lord via the indwelling Holy Spirit.

Everyone needs a place to retreat, a spot where the world grows quiet enough for us to hear.

May you find that restful space this summer time.

Silence

Have you heard all the sounds
silence holds?

Cessation of movement,
stillness of mind.

The ceasing of all efforts
reveals a door
hitherto closed,
and shielded from view.

In silence,
we open
as a musical note does
to the one who calls it out.

In silence,
we feel
the blossoming urge of a tight bud,
the burning need to bloom.

Ears tuned to a different register,
we note
a swift beat of wings,
a mounting chord.

And we realise, with new clarity
that silence holds a thousand sounds.

Echoes from elsewhere
but which we recognise as our own.

Notes that ring out shrill
as the flute,
or soft as a strummed harp
in gentle hands.

Tones in which we hear the birds,
and the sea,
and the sound of our own hearts
meeting our shore.

And the language we discern,
though one we cannot translate,
is understood the same
as any audible voice.

Yes, that we might hear the sounds
silence holds.
That we might still ourselves
to open the door.

Ana Lisa de Jong – Living Tree Poetry
May 2018