So far this week, we’ve looked at rhythms for rest, but what should one actually do with that time? One author, Tim Keller, has suggested two main categories of rest.
1) Doing nothing at all. Kick your feet up.
2) Do something different from your usual work.
If you work in a bank, volunteering to help launch our church is a form of rest. But if you work in a church, then it isn’t rest…but doing the books for your favourite charity could be.
If you’re a fisherman, then fishing isn’t rest. But if you’re a videographer, it is.
If you’re a landscaper, then cutting the grass at home isn’t rest. But for many people, it’s therapeutic!
Not sure what that might look like?
It could be contemplative – spend some time praying, reading something spiritually focused, watching a sunrise.
It could be recreational – playing soccer, rock climbing, hitting the beach, learning a new skill, reading something just for fun.
It could be aesthetic – going to an art gallery, climbing the CN tower to look over the city, watching an outdoor movie like we’re hosting this September.
Rest is going to vary depending on your work and your personality.
For me – rest is reading, or outdoors. Hiking, rock climbing, camping, all use muscles, parts of my brain and energies that writing these challenges and standing here in front of a camera talking to you does not!
Question: List your favourite way to find rest in each of these categories:
Doing Nothing:
Contemplative:
Recreational:
Aesthetic:
Then put down when you’ll plan to do that next.
We meet for coffee this Wednesday night at Starbucks in the Chapters Store in Ajax, in Durham Region just East of Toronto. Maybe we’ll see you there?
Loading Content...
Share a Link to this Message
The link has been copied to your clipboard; paste it anywhere you would like to share it.
Today we see why worrying is useless…for us, at least.
We can't make our lives longer. We can actually shorten our lives with worry. The line that Jesus used could even mean making bodies longer…which is definitely not something that happens after adulthood.
God provides in nature - not a direct drop from heaven - but he's readied nature.
UN: The greatest scandal of our age is the fact that just under 1 billion people on the planet go to bed hungry every night. This is despite the fact that we produce more than enough to feed every single person in the world. The problem is not a shortage but rather that the undernourished who need food most cannot access it.
God also provides through others – generosity
God does this in a world where trouble and accidents happen. We will not avoid them. This is not a promise you won’t meet with trouble.
But don’t worry, or become anxious about it. You were made for eternity anyway. Jesus is saying you are much more than that - made for heaven.
Think of a Panda - it eats bamboo almost all the time it's awake. We humans are made for much more than sustenance. In famines, this kind of single focus may be necessary. But this is not the usual condition for us.
More relevantly today in the West, we are meant for more than selfish ambition. We are made for loving, giving, caring, serving.
Question: What has God already put in our world to answer your worry concerns?
