Stop/Observe

Today's SSJE reflection continues the discussion about Sabbath and rest. The question begins with an instruction: schedule a complete day of rest. Then the question, "What does it make you realize about your life and heart?"

First of all, I am having to think hard about scheduling a complete day of rest without being forced to (i.e., by being sick). But the more I think about it, the more attractive it becomes. I have in the past enjoyed days in which I stayed in bed most of the day napping and reading. I don't know that the brothers are suggesting that we have to stay in bed to rest, and certainly not to be sick. But when I stop to think, I suspect that the physical rest that comes with sleep is what I need most right now.

Perhaps resting more frequently would entail getting dressed and sitting up to read or to sit outside and watch the world. A day at the beach might well be a day of complete rest. Or at the duck pond. Or to spend the day at home but not feeling guilty about vacuuming. I would have to fight the urge to do something productive, I'm sure, until I got the hang of it.

I haven't been able to answer the question yet. What does it make you realize about your life and heart? But I suspect the answer might be that my life and heart are much more happy and healthy when I regularly take time out to rest.

Like this:

Contentment

Today's SSJE video and question is about contentment.

Are you content right now?

Here's my photo answer - a picture of contentment, I think, both restful and playful:

As I answered in the SSJE comment page, I realize that this is a complex idea, contentment. I have often been someone who wanted more and more. From an early age, I wanted the WHOLE COLLECTION of things I collected. I often feel dis-content. 

And yet at the same time, I often do feel contentment, at least for a little while. Sometimes sitting in church I feel content; sometimes propped up in bed with a good book brings on a sense of contentment. Gathering around a table of good food and friends/family does, too. Going on a walk outside and enjoying nature makes me feel content.

The part of this idea that is most active in my mind and imagination, though, is that as I age, I have become discontent with excess. Too much stuff. We are packing up our house in Atlanta to move it all to Richmond and I enjoyed filling up a dumpster and gathering things to be given away. Stuff is encroaching on me. I feel that stuff binds me. 

And yet, I couldn't bring myself to get rid of way too much stuff.

So this is complex. I definitely need to continue to ponder contentment. 

Stop/Drawn

Today's SSJE video and question:

Where are you drawn when you follow your heart?

I wonder if I would post a picture of the beach every day? Or birds or flowers? These are the places and things that often draw me to God.

But truly, when I follow my heart, I am drawn to my family.

Being rather than Doing

Today's SSJE question is:

How do you picture a day spent “being” – as opposed to “doing”?

If you've been a reader of this blog for long, this picture won't surprise you.

Stop/Liberation

Today's post from the SSJE Lenten project on Time really hits me where I live. Here's the video:

So here's the question:

What taskmasters do you need to be liberated from to reclaim your dignity?

I hardly know what to say. I think I'm susceptible to expectations, real and imagined, that I always be available (hey, I'm a priest!), that I accomplish a lot (hey, I'm accomplished!), that I do everything everyone asks me to do (hey, I'm unable to set boundaries!).

So I wonder if the taskmaster I most need to be liberated from is this one:

Stopping/Monday

The question today is, "Where is your invitation to stop during the day?"

Ha ha. I had to think about that a long time.

But here it is:

Stopping

Continuing with the SSJE Lenten program, yesterday's question was

"Sit in total stillness for five minutes today.

How does it feel?"

Like this:

Day 4

What daily practice sparks joy in you?

Going outside to look at and really notice. creation. 

Day three

What will I call Sabbath?

Something that refreshes and is life giving. 

What I'm Doing for Lent

I have been struggling with what to do for Lent this year. I have also been struggling with trying to keep up with blogging, which I love but have found harder and harder to do. I recently went on a retreat at the Monastery of the Society of St. John the Evangelist in Cambridge, Massachusetts, a retreat that turned out to be something very different that what I was planning/expecting. I will spare you the details. 

What did happen over the last few days as my world has been consumed with weather and travel issues, most of them "acts of God" except for the one that was entirely my fault, with Ash Wednesday squeezed in between, was that upon returning from the Monastery, I found in my snailmailbox a booklet from the same Brothers of SSJE their Lenten series, which is called:

It’s time to… Stop, Pray, Work, Play & Love

The series is about Time. Boy do I need this. I realize that my struggle is not about Lent or Blogging but about how I have let the ordering of my life get seriously messed up. I will be watching their videos or reading their meditations daily and answering their questions on their site. 

You can play along with the Brothers by clicking here. 

I really do want to continue blogging. And I hope that one result of my walking through Lent focusing on Time will be that I have more Time to Write! But for now, since I already to make time to take pictures, I will focus on posting a photo every day that corresponds to the SSJE video's subject for that day.

Yesterday's word was Time and the question was: what is your relationship with time?

Here's my photo:

Today's word is Priorities and the question is: how do you set priorities in your life?

A photo simply wouldn't do for this question, so here's a video instead:

So, here we are on the "porch" of Lent, the days between Ash Wednesday and Lent I on Sunday. I look forward to this holy time. My wish for you is an equally holy time of renewal and growth.

Blessings.