Imagine what freedom we would have if our things stopped meaning so much to us?
Imagine where our time/money/resources could be spent if we weren't concerned with how much we had?
It's powerful stuff, friends.
Like, completely interrupt your life powerful....
I am so excited to see what happens in Part II
***************
Respite: res·pite/ˈrespət/: An interruption in the intensity or amount of something;
A pause for relaxation.
To Pause.
It's the cause of one of the greatest clashes between culture and faith.
Our ability to stop. And listen.
To be still.
To give ourselves over to the pause.
The Sacred Pause.
As I allowed my eyes to be opened and I stared at my own reflection, I was appalled at how rarely I pause.
Are we really so important and busy that God must work around our schedules?
Are we truly a culture that says to God, "We'll pencil you in"?
I don't want to be that person.
But I am.
I don't want to see that in my own reflection.
But I do.
As I spend this season asking God to reveal to me His heart, I have been broken by the fact that He's been waiting for me to stop. and listen.
It crushes me to think I have done that to the One who is most dear to me. Ignored my King?...
So for 40 days [February 29- April 8], I will practice The Seven Sacred Pauses.
"Honoring "the hours" through conscious pausing for prayer at specific times of the day. When I speak of the hours I am referring to those times of the day that the earth's turning offers us: midnight, dawn, midmorning, noon, midafternoon, evening and night. Although every hour is sacred, these special times have been hallowed by centuries of devotion and prayer...It is possible to develop a kindred spirit with these rich historical hours that does not require praying specific texts or going to a specific place for prayer. Each hour has its own unique mood and special grace. You can learn to enter into the spirit of the hour wherever you are. No matter what you are doing, you can pause to touch the grace of the hour." - Macrina Weiderkehr
In addition to taking pause throughout the day, I have decided to also fast those things that have kept me too "busy" for time with my Father (Facebook, Blogging, Pinterest).
Because more than anything I want to live in communion with God. And I know that in order to do that, I have to stop.
And actually listen to the heart of my Father.
40 Days.
No Social Networking.
No Blogging.
No Pinterest-ing. (?)
Replaced with:
Pausing.
Praying.
Listening.
On Purpose, this 40 Day fast ends on Easter.
I chose to place this season of asking to see God's love in a new way in the same season in which we acknowledge that it was that very thing that held him on the cross.
For me.
Father, may my time be spend more wisely as I devour Your will and purge myself of the "needs" this world has convinced me I have. Open my eyes that I might see the areas You want access to. As I practice the seven sacred pauses, I cry out for Your spirit to be ever present with me. As I stop and listen, I pray that I hear You more clearly than ever before.
Renew me, my beloved.
0 comments:
Post a Comment