A Time to Rest

Recently, I was on holidays and visited the Outer Hebrides.  While there, I had the chance to spend some time in a community of people who take one day off per week as a day of rest.  This religious practice is called 'Sabbath', which many believe is a holy and Sacred Tradition.  During this day of rest, the entire community abstains from work, laundry, public transportation, and events.

Have you ever experienced a day when society is quiet together?  I can't say I have.  It was an eye-opening experience because I had very little experience with an entire culture going 'quiet'.  Fortunately, this day of rest caused my mind to stir with ideas about the benefits of rest and the benefit of practicing Sacred Traditions.  Here are some of my take-aways:

IMAGINATION EXERCISE: PRACTICING SILENCE

Imagine joining me on the remote Isle of Lewis in the Outer Hebrides, where everyone is quiet and still at the same time for at least one day.  In that rest, you can hear the wind blow, the ocean crash against the rocks, the water ripple through a small lake (loch), and tall grass bending towards the sun.  Take 3:41 minutes and join me in a practice of "Sound & Stillness, 2013":

**Please spend the full 3:41 minutes and watch "Sounds & Stillness".  The video is an exercise that exemplifies one form of taking a rest.

......

Do you feel the effects of the "Sound & Stillness"?  Did your imagination begin to wonder what the Isle was like?  Did stories form in your mind?  Did you calm?  Become aware of the what you are experiencing.

There is a form of rest in the video and in those images.  On the Isle, there were no cars moving, no iPhones ringing, no dogs yipping, only the sound of the winds grazing across the land and softly flowing over and around you as you watched the beauty in pictures.  Can you feel it?  Even for a moment, can you catch a glimpse of its simplicity?

BECOME AWARE OF THE EFFECTS OF SOUND.

For one moment, refer back to imagining yourself on that quiet island where we had just been.  In that reflection of REST, please note the vulnerability of rest: if just one person had blasted their stereo, screamed at their dog, or revved their engine, then we would have lost our serenity and our rest.  Nuisance and distraction and unnatural sound are all robbers of rest.

In order to rest, it is quite logical to know that everyone must be in an agreeable and shared state of rest, so as to maintain its peace.  Therefore:

REST is a community event;

Everyone plays a relevant role in creating REST.

If just one person breaks the rest, then all others' rest is infringed upon.  Thus, to rest requires a sacred alliance of common belief with good intention that allows rest to remain.  A society that shares an agreement of rest, through culture and religion, is the best conduit to allow rest to remain and be sustained.

CITY REST?!

So if a whole island is needed to build and maintain a culture of rest, what hope is there for major cities?  Can a city rest?

My guess 'no' because cities are built on the lowest common denominator of agreement.  For instance, in a city people can agree on the basic needs such as:  sanitation services, education, and public safety; however, there is rarely a common agreement on religion, politics, or social culture (and these are the elements required to establish an agreement of rest).  As such, cities do not seem equipped to harvest a culture of rest.

Instead, people develop micro-communities, wherein groups of people agree to create a space within time, that is focused on quiet and rest. Some examples already already exist with the Modern Monastics, Prayer & Meditation groups, Urban Sanctuaries, etc.

Traditions, routine, and the practice of silence are all positive things when it comes to maintaining good mental health.  In fact, 'returning to quiet' after any major emotion is one of the strongest means of maintaining good mental health (19 Life Skills from THRIVE Recovery).

CONCLUSION:

Allow your mind to be free of judgements towards religious practices, so that you can gain the benefit from them and REST.

Allow yourself to have the 'faith of a child' to embrace God, Jesus, the Holy & Great Spirit to find REST for your soul.

Psalm 131

English Standard Version (ESV)

"I Have Calmed and Quieted My Soul"

A Song of Ascents. Of David.

131 

O Lord, my heart is not lifted up;

    my eyes are not raised too high;

I do not occupy myself with things

    too great and too marvelous for me.

² 

But I have calmed and quieted my soul,

    like a weaned child with its mother;

    like a weaned child is my soul within me.

³ 

O Israel, hope in the Lord

    from this time forth and forevermore.