Skip to main content

Rest

         And there was evening, and there was morning—the first day. (Genesis 1:5b)

 

          Christmas is over. Oh, there are some who will continue – and more power to them. According to tradition, one can leave Christmas decorations up until Candlemas Day – which is Groundhog’s Day. Others say the Day of the Kings – which is January 6th. But if you’ve read my blog, you know that I’ve been (getting) ready to end the year since Thanksgiving. I’ve been especially ready to end the year since I got sick. Let’s get over this whole mess and move on! I am soo over 2022 and all this coughing. But we have this stupid week…not a day, but a whole week in which the rest of the world is winding down and gearing up, so by the time 2023 arrives, I’m pretty much over it, too. It took the rest of you so long to get here that I’m bored. And yes, I know, that problem is all mine, not yours.

            But I find myself returning to a point that is an infrequent chorus in my blog: the idea that the day starts in the evening, not at sunrise, and after the day begins, that’s when you rest for the night. When you get up, the day is already about half over but you’re rested.

            So this week between Christmas (the end of the year) and New Years’ Day (the dawn of the new year) is a time of rest, but what does that mean? More often than not, I tend to think of rest as “enforced” inactivity or idleness. And there is that aspect to it. But there’s another part, and that is the building up or saving up of energy, time allowing plans to ruminate. Rest is a time of building personal resources, not in the sense of ordering parts, but in the sense of ordering one’s self.

            And that’s what the next seven days are all about.

 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Think About These Things

                 Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. (Philippians 4:8) This passage is a major challenge for me. Like everyone else, I struggle to keep my thoughts from wandering off into the weeds, then wondering what possible benefits those weeds might have… Sigh. But as a writer, I have to delve at least a little into the ignoble, wrong, impure, unlovely, and debased. After all, there’s no story if everything’s just as it should be and everyone’s happy. As Christians, there are times when we need to deal with all the negatives, but that makes it even more important that we practice turning our minds by force of attention to what is noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent, and praiseworthy. It’s just too easy to get stuck in a swamp. With my...
1 comment
Read more

Higher Thoughts

  “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the  Lord . “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. (Isaiah 55:8-9)           The person with the Spirit makes judgments about all things, but such a person is not subject to merely human judgments,   for, “Who has known the mind of the Lord      so as to instruct him?” But we have the mind of Christ. (I Corinthians 2:15-16) If you read about the ancient gods of the various peoples, you’ll find that they think just like people. In fact, they think just like the sort of people we really wouldn’t want to be around. They think like the most corrupt Hollywood producer or, like hormone overloaded teens with no upbringing.   It’s embarrassing to read. I have a friend who argues that because God is not just like us, He is so vastly dif...
2 comments
Read more

Pure...

            The goal of this command is love, which comes from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith. (I Timothy 1:5)   I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth. (Revelation 3:15-16) I’m probably cheating - or mishandling the Bible, but earlier I was thinking about love being pure and purifying. And hatred being pure and purifying. And anger…joy…patience… fear… jealousy… courage…lust… and other strongly felt feelings, attitudes, and beliefs. Today’s verse brings purity and love together, so it’s the verse of the day, but it’s not really the focus. That means my motive for sharing it with you probably isn’t pure. As you read through my list, you   probably thought, “Yeah” about some, and “What’s she on?” about others. But consider how much hatred, a...
Post a Comment
Read more