Читать книгу Reconnect - David Sherbino - Страница 12

All of us need to be renewed inwardly and outwardly on a regular basis. In the creation story God rested on the seventh day and gave the command that we are to do the same. In other words God did not intend that we keep going day after day but that we need periods of rest and renewal on a regular basis.

Jesus understood this concept and taught it to his closest followers. In one account in the Gospels, Jesus and his disciples were ministering to the crowd and were so busy they did not even have time to eat lunch. Finally he said to the disciples they needed to have a break. “Come away by yourselves to a lonely place and rest a while” (Mark 6:31)

Many are caught up in a lifestyle of busyness. We have no time to rest. Even our weekends are filled with feverish activity and we wonder why we are so stressed out. We need to have regular periods of silence and solitude to renew our body and soul.

Henri Nouwen who was a busy academic had a six-month sabbatical at Genesee Abbey in New York. During that time he wrote about his experiences and the apparent paradoxes in the search for silence and solitude.

“While complaining about too many demands, I felt uneasy when none were made. While speaking about the burden of letter writing, an empty mailbox made me sad. While fretting about tiring lecture tours, I felt disappointed when there were no invitations. While speaking nostalgically about an empty desk, I feared the day when that would come true. In short: while desiring to be alone, I was frightened of being alone. The more I became aware of these paradoxes, the more I had indeed fallen in love with my own compulsions and illusions, and how much I needed to step back and wonder, “Is there a quiet stream underneath my fluctuating affirmations and rejections of my little world? Is there a still point where my life is anchored and from which I can reach out with hope and courage and confidence?’ (4)