Dearly Beloved,
Grace and Peace to you.
The apostles gathered around Jesus, and told him all that they had done and taught. He said to them, “Come away to a deserted place all by yourselves and rest a while.” For many were coming and going, and they had no leisure even to eat.
—Mark 6.30-31
We’re all coming and going, flush with our successes, full of compelling stories complaining about how busy we are, and the Teacher just interrupts us without any congratulations or sympathy and says “Come away.” As if to say, “Get out of there. Back away.” He knows how addicted we are to our busyness. It’s not good.
Jesus invites us into “a deserted place,” a place where there’s no one else to judge us, need us, threaten us or define us. He invites us to let go of our desire to control, to prove ourselves, to identify ourselves by what we have contributed.
In stillness we enter the mystery of Sabbath: we cease working and trust that our life does not come from our own effort but is the gift of God. We are like an infant in it’s mother’s arms, with no power, no gift, no claim to worth other than our being, and our mother’s delight. That is enough. We simply rest in her loving gaze.
When we go “on vacation” we don’t just vacate our workplace. We ourselves become vacant, empty, with nothing to show for ourselves, with infinite space for the holy to unfold in us. The vacant places in you are sacred.
So I will go. I’m heading out for a couple of weeks of vacation. I’ll see you again in early August.
Meanwhile, be well. Be still. Be empty enough for God. You are enough.
Deep Blessings,
Pastor Steve
__________________
Steve Garnaas-Holmes
Unfolding Light
www.unfoldinglight.net
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