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Create Harmony
This is a podcast about setting an intentional rhythm, savoring life’s blessings and learning how to use our imagination as a way of listening to God. If you want to learn more about how to bring stillness and gratitude into your life you’ll probably find a lot here that you love. To find out more about what's going on in the Create Harmony world, check out www.mycreateharmony.com.
Create Harmony
Embracing Rest
Imagine rest not as the absence of activity but as a powerful, transformative state that can enrich our lives. On this episode of the Create Harmony podcast, I'll guide you through the enriched practice of rest, inspired by nature’s winter pause. I draw on the wisdom of ancient traditions like Sabbath and Selah, revealing how their emphasis on spiritual reflection and community connection can be reimagined in our tech-driven world. From digital Sabbaths to mindfulness routines, discover how these timeless practices can fit seamlessly into your modern life, offering peace and rejuvenation in the midst of chaos.
Join me as I recount my soul-restoring experience at a Refresh Retreat, highlighting the incredible impact of intentional pauses. As we prepare to wrap up this enriching series, look forward to even more insights that promise to leave you feeling refreshed and ready to embrace moments of calm in your daily life.
To learn more, go to mycreateharmony.com
Welcome back to the Create Harmony podcast. This is a place where we celebrate everyday joys and we pay attention to good things that are happening all around us all the time. You don't want to miss these things and the busyness of your life. We take our inspiration from nature and we relish all the changes it brings. This is a place where we celebrate creativity and introspection. But don't worry, everyone is welcome to join in and you can find your place here. And also, while you're doing that, you might just take a few minutes to lift your spirits and find some fun in your everyday routine. So this is episode 115 and I'm your host, sally Burlington.
Speaker 2:So we have been doing winter well-being for this whole winter season and we're nearing the end of our series, and I would be remiss if I didn't touch on the topic of rest. So nature rests in the winter. That's what the whole winter season is about. In nature, it's an important part of thriving learning how to rest well, and one of the first things I'll say about rest if we're going to talk about rest, one of the first things I'll say is this is a reminder to you rest is a thing, it is not solely the absence of a thing Now. As Americans, we're not great at it. We often equate resting with laziness or sloth, but once you learn how to rest well, it can be life changing. So last spring we really did a deep dive into this. We talked about all the different forms of rest that were outlined by Dr Sondra Dalton Smith. So there are seven different types of rest and sometimes you need to get the right type of rest in order to feel restored. If you want to learn more about that, you can go back and listen to episodes 62 through 69. So check that out if you want to know all about the different forms of rest. Today we're going to talk a little bit more about the different forms of rest. Today we're gonna talk a little bit more about the concepts of Sabbath and Selah. So these are concepts that have been around since ancient times.
Speaker 2:Sabbath day is observed in many, many religions lots of different religions. It's a day of rest and spiritual reflection and connecting with our community. It's celebrated by religious traditions all around the world and goes back for millennia. So the origin of Sabbath, the concept of Sabbath, originates from the Jewish tradition. It's first mentioned in the book of Genesis. God created the world in six days and rested on the seventh day. So even God, the most powerful power in the universe, needed rest and this sanctifies a day of rest. That established a pattern, and so in the Jewish tradition they celebrate what they call Shabbat, which is their word, for Sabbath begins at sundown on Friday and extends to nightfall on Saturday, so it's a time for family gatherings, for prayer, for rest from work. Traditionally, if you were being very traditional about the Jewish observance of Shabbat, you would recite some blessings, you would share a meal, you might go to synagogue, you would light candles. This is considered a gift from God, this time to disconnect from our mundane schedules and reconnect with the divine or the sacred.
Speaker 2:We also observe the Sabbath in the Christian faith in lots of different ways over lots of different denominations. I live in North Carolina, in the Bible Belt, and in the past Sunday was a day of worship, rest, and community stores would be closed. Things slowed down. People really just visited with one another and went to church and observed the Sabbath time. That rhythm was a little different from all the other days of the week and you can also see this concept in Islam. There's not the direct equivalent in Buddhism or Hinduism, but both of those religions do emphasize periods of regular rest, of meditation, of spiritual connection. So that is still a concept that goes across.
Speaker 2:Rest is a thing In modern society. Our Sabbath looks very different. You might have certain Sabbath patterns that look very different and they might not happen on a particular day of the week, but maybe they are woven into your routine. Some people have the concept of a digital Sabbath, where they disconnect from their electronic devices for a day. This has really gained popularity. You might spend time with loved ones, slow down and just engage in activities that bring you joy and relaxation. So this is even in the mindfulness community that the concept remains.
Speaker 2:So in addition to sabbath, we also have something in the bible called selah. I think I'm pronouncing it correctly. There's not a direct translation for that, but it is considered a marker for pausing, reflecting and just slowing down a little bit. It's used used sometimes in music, like the Psalms are considered musical and it happens at the end of verses and it's sort of like a musical rest, like if you read the notes of music there would be a rest, and this is like that. Selah is considered a holy pause where you might take time to rest. So when we look at these two concepts. I mean, why are we talking about Sabbath and Selah? We are reminded when we look at them that for centuries the concept of pausing and reflecting continues to be important, because rest is a thing, not just the absence of a thing. So a few weeks ago I'm going to give you an example from my own life of when I took a pause and went on a retreat.
Speaker 2:Our church has these day trips that they're scheduling this year called Refresh Retreats, and we go to a nearby retreat center that encourages prayer and reflection of all sorts. It's not just Christian prayer, it's all different faith traditions that can come and pray in this space. The place itself just has this peaceful aura. So we traveled over there and as soon as we got there, as soon as we got out of the car, you could feel the tension fading away. The setting is lovely, there are lots of places to stop and think, to walk, to ponder. So Our group, when we first got there, we were given some prompts to think about some things to write about or questions to ask ourselves during quiet time, and then we were given some free time to ourselves so we could we sort of spread out across the property.
Speaker 2:There are several little library libraries or semi-private rooms that you could sit and read or you could journal or you could meditate. There is a meditation room. I picked one of the semi-private rooms and I sat and did a lot of journaling and writing and just sort of personal reflection. There's this big cozy fireplace in one room with comfy chairs snuggle down in and then outside on the grounds. There are lots of good quiet options. I did that in the afternoon. You could sit by the waterfall, you could hang out under a pergola, you could walk a nature trail, if you think best, while moving your body. You could do that. There's also a labyrinth that you could walk. Just so many peaceful places.
Speaker 2:And then we met back together for lunch in their collaborative dining room. We laughed and we talked and then after lunch we had more time to reflect and pray and spend time, you know, on our own. Mid-afternoon we went to their glass chapel. They have this little glass chapel at right, nestled in nature. There's trees all around, and so we were in there and we shared some of our reflections from the day, some things that people thought about and prayed about, and then we sang some songs and then it was time to journey back to our town and you know, our refresh retreat was over.
Speaker 2:You can spend the night at this retreat center, but we went for the day and the beauty of that was you could just step away from your life for one whole day. You don't have to pack, you don't have to sleep anywhere else and you get the chance to do something Sabbath-like. And some of you are listening to this and you are thinking that sounds amazing and I want to do something like that. Now there might be some of you that are thinking no, thank you, this is not what I want to do, that is not my way of Sabbath. So you'll have to reflect on that and figure out a way that you can Sabbath in your own version of Sabbath. But for me, it was the greatest gift to have time to step away from the noise of my life and think and process. I really appreciated the things that came up for me and I just found it very restorative. So all that to say you need to find a way to rest and if you are feeling burnout and overwhelmed, whatever way you're currently resting might not be what you really need, so you might want to consider a different approach. You can go back and listen to those episodes to see if a different type of rest would be a better fit for you. So last time, rest is a thing, not just the absence of a thing.
Speaker 2:So for our closing today, I'm going to share an excerpt from a book called Sacred Rest Finding the Sabbath in the Every Day by Cheryl Wunderlich, and it goes like this. Like this, it's called Waiting for Renewal. We wait all the time in traffic in line for a call, for a response to an email or text, for a package to arrive for vacation. This ordinary kind of waiting is just part of life. When you believe in God, however, you can also wait with purpose. You can wait on the Lord. Waiting on the Lord means we are not arbitrarily and needlessly wasting time. Rather, we are at a standstill with an eager and patient expectation that God will act on our behalf. Waiting in this way is a form of rest.
Speaker 2:When we wait on the Lord in prayer to fulfill God's promises, the time is not pointless. God uses that time to renew our strength Instead of feeling caught in haphazard circumstances. We hope in the sovereign God who is always working to bring about God's best for us. Perhaps waiting is God's built-in mechanism to keep our world from running so fast that it spins out of control. Life won't always be easy, but we can rest in the assurance that God will be there to give us new strength when we reach the end of our own. Take this promise to heart. The Lord is the everlasting God, the creator of the ends of the earth. God will not grow tired or weary, and God's understanding no one can fathom. God gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. What an incredible assurance. We never have to worry about falling apart because God is always there giving us strength. All we have to do is sit quietly, wait, rest and be renewed, placing our hope in God to make us strong.
Speaker 2:I'm so glad you joined today as we talked about rest and hopefully you were reminded of some new ways that you can find Sabbath or Selah in your routine. Maybe you'll find a way to go on a retreat, just like I did. I know it will restore your soul and be sure and come back next week. As we are getting ready to wrap up our winter well-being series. You don't want to miss a minute of the content. Until next time, peace.
Speaker 1:Thank you.
