A multifaceted time out....making time to rest and listen

This past week I took several "time outs" or breaks, if you want to call them that.  After I finished my paper for Pastoral Care two days early and had worked on Hebrew quite a bit, I needed some quiet time. 

I was able to attend the Wednesday night Mid-week Vespers at Hixson UMC and that space for quiet, prayer, and reflection was a balm to my soul. 

I took several solo walks at the Greenway Farm which allowed me exercise plus the silence and solitude time. 

I rested.  I stayed at home more than normal, even skipping TaeKwonDo, a Bible Study, and a meeting.  Some of that was so I could get that Pastoral Care paper written and some of that was because I wrote the paper. 

Along with studies, life has its challenges and it can be overwhelming at times.  That's why I am grateful for "time outs".  Time to stop and listen.  Time to remember and/or be reminded of what is truly important.

I am glad that I've learned to take them.  I may not always take them when needed, but I continue to listen to my body and God. 

This past week God has encouraged me through songs, through the body of Christ, through prayer, through Creation, and writings (Nouwen's Bread for the Journey, Jesus Calling (October 31), quotes from A Guide to Prayer For All Who Seek God, through worship, through Holy Communion, and through Scripture.  I was even blessed (though a little surprised) to hear praise music playing in the background this morning at my doctor's office.  I was able to take time to "be still" right there in the doctor's office and enjoy some praise music. 

For several days it has been on my mind to pick up Macrina Wiederkehr's Abide: Keeping Vigil with the Word of God and see what God might have for me there.  I didn't particularly like the message that awaited me where I had left off, but I decided that was the message I needed to read and digest.

The message?  "Called to be Holy" from the section The Beautiful Struggle of Daily Life.  I could definitely relate to the 'struggle of daily life' part.... but I wasn't so sure how I was going to accept the 'call to be holy' part. 

The Scripture reference: 1 Peter 1:13-25.  I looked it up in the NRSV, The Message, and the CEV on Biblegateway.com.  I decided to go with the CEV:

¹³ Be alert and think straight. Put all your hope in how kind God will be to you when Jesus Christ appears. ¹⁴ Behave like obedient children. Don’t let your lives be controlled by your desires, as they used to be. ¹⁵ Always live as God’s holy people should, because God is the one who chose you, and he is holy. ¹⁶ That’s why the Scriptures say, “I am the holy God, and you must be holy too.”
¹⁷ You say that God is your Father, but God doesn’t have favorites! He judges all people by what they do. So you must honor God while you live as strangers here on earth. ¹⁸ You were rescued from the useless way of life that you learned from your ancestors. But you know that you were not rescued by such things as silver or gold that don’t last forever. ¹⁹ You were rescued by the precious blood of Christ, that spotless and innocent lamb. ²⁰ Christ was chosen even before the world was created, but because of you, he did not come until these last days. ²¹ And when he did come, it was to lead you to have faith in God, who raised him from death and honored him in a glorious way. That’s why you have put your faith and hope in God.
²² You obeyed the truth, and your souls were made pure. Now you sincerely love each other. But you must keep on loving with all your heart. ²³ Do this because God has given you new birth by his message that lives on forever. ²⁴ The Scriptures say,

“Humans wither like grass,
and their glory fades
    like wild flowers.
Grass dries up,
and flowers fall
    to the ground.
²⁵ But what the Lord has said
    will stand forever.”

Our good news to you is what the Lord has said.

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There is much to chew on here, to digest.  As I prayerfully read through these verses, the end of verse 17 caught my attention: "...honor God while you live as strangers here on earth."  Easier said than done.  But that is my heart's desire. 

As I looked at Macrina's words on the chapter, several things caught my attention.

"Our call to holiness is, in reality, a call to obedience." (112)

"Thus the first call is to listen." (112)

"We listen to our desire to be the person God is calling us to be, in Christ.  Our faithfulness to this listening is the beginning of holiness.  When we look at holiness in this way, it is easy to see that holiness is a process." (112)

"Our sojourn on this earth can pull us in many directions." (113)

To avoid being taken off the path, we must abide and listen carefully to and for the One Voice.  For me, this requires taking "time outs" so that I can hear more clearly. 

Macrina closes with this: "Remember, then, that we are holy and we have been asked to love on another intensely.  Let us bend our ears in obedient listening to this call to live forever in the abiding Word of God." (114)

May it be so!

Blessings on your journey,

Debra