Sunday, December 22, 2019

Advent. Restore


Well, I completely missed yesterday but as the word was “rest” I’m just going to say I was putting it into practice.
Actually, I was engaging in some of what I find restorative. Figuring out that piece of life is essential to living deeply and well. You cannot give away what you don’t have. If you are going to engage in work that is meaningful – doing justice, making peace, healing, teaching, leading, creating – you have to figure out what restores you otherwise you wind up empty.
I’m fortunate enough to have found a few practices of restoration along the way that serve me well, and yesterday turned out to be a good day for engaging several of them.
I ran outside at what passes for speed for me any more, and 3.5 miles at pace restores my soul even as it leaves me with a healthy soreness the next day. I spend more than an hour playing my new guitar and experimenting with chord progressions in an alternative tuning. Making music always restores my soul. Then we had dinner with friends.
There were errands and a few chores in between, and time for a bit of a nap, as well. All and all, it was a day of rest and restoration that I was blessed to find in the midst of the rush of leading a church during Advent.
There’s nothing deep or profound in any of that, but you cannot hope to live into the deeps if you don’t find rest in the calm of the shallows on a regular basis.

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