Rest, Mending, Sharing

God made us from dust.  We’re never too far from our origins.  The apostle Paul says we’re only clay pots—dust mixed with water, passed through fire.  Hard, yes, but brittle too.  Knowing this, God gave us the gift of Sabbath—not just as a day, but as an orientation, a way of seeing and knowing.  Sabbath-keeping is a form of mending.         It’s mortar in the joints.  Keep Sabbath or else break too easily and oversoon.  Keep it, otherwise our dustiness consumes us, becomes us, and we end up able to hold exactly nothing (Buchanan, Mark.  The Rest of God. Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 2006.).

So what mends me?  What is refreshing to my soul?  What is it that helps me see better and know more deeply?  What keeps the “dustiness” from consuming me?  What is rest for me? 

These are questions I have been asking for many months now, always finding the answer a bit evasive.  But, two weeks ago, I came up with a list at the challenge of a friend: a chunk of time with coffee and a book or journal, taking photographs and sharing them, processing my thoughts and lessons through writing, exploring the city, taking walks, getting away once in a while (preferably somewhere beautiful), playing with kids.  These are things that help me see sacredness in everyday life.  They help me slow down and pay attention.  They open my eyes to Beauty, the bigger Purpose, God’s hand. These are the things that give room in my heart to God and breathe life into my soul.  

So, as I use this forum to process life lessons, share photos, write about daily life and the people I meet, perhaps it will be a form of mending for me.  Maybe I will see more clearly, understand more deeply.  Maybe I will find Rest.