Sit Down Quietly
Sit Down Quietly
Happiness is as a butterfly, which when pursued, is always beyond our grasp, but which, if you will sit down quietly, may alight upon you. Nathaniel Hawthorne.
Once upon a time, before industrial monoculture, farmers would periodically let their fields lie fallow. That is, they plowed and harrowed the land but left it unsown, allowing it to recover from production and regain its fertility. Today, farmers keep up with fast-paced competition by intensive methods and chemicals that accelerate production... this at the cost of soil fertility and sustainability.
We are doing the same thing with our people. Everyone is rushing hither and yon, trying to accomplish a million things at once before crashing into bed at night. We can’t even find time to sit down and eat with our families anymore. Then we wonder why we are tired, sick, depressed, irritable.
Whence this frantic rush? An American physician named Larry Dossey coined the term “time-sickness” in 1982. He defined it as the obsessive belief that “time is getting away and that their isn’t enough of it, and that you must pedal faster and faster to keep up.”
As Christians we are “to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom.” (Psalm 90:12) Certainly, we are to employ our time well and productively, but sometimes that means simply to “be still and know that I am God.” (Psalm 46:10)
Why don’t you institute a Quiet Time, perhaps a moment in the day when you can stop: brew yourself a cup of tea, or listen to beautiful music, or read a poem, or walk outdoors, or journal, or spend a bit of time with your handwork, or simply pause to close your eyes and just breathe. It doesn’t need to be an hour, though that would be nice; sometimes a five or ten minute lull will be enough to refresh and sustain you through a busy day. Certainly, you should learn now that sweet habit of spending quiet time with God in prayer and in His Word. In Him alone can we find our truest rest and happiness, even when the world without is in turmoil.
“For thus saith the Lord GOD, the Holy One of Israel; in returning and rest shall ye be saved; in quietness and in confidence shall be your strength...” Isaiah 30:15.
Raspberry thimble cookies for a special home-tea.
I enjoyed watching the following movie, a student project, which vividly contrasts the modern culture of acceleration with a small group of students who choose to slow down for a proper tea along the river Thames. Their leisurely postures and movements make them a sort of oasis amid the bustle and hustle of this busy street.
Watch it. Then put the kettle on and brew a cup of tea.
Photographs: Various. © Handmaidens of the Shepherd, April 2009.
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Tuesday, April 28, 2009