The Story of Life as we Know It

We write the story of our life one thought, one daydream, one word at a time. I'm on my 50th draft of a story called "Barry" and it's very much a work in progress - red pens and Post-it notes everywhere. The older I get, the more I enjoy the revision process, asking "What if?" and "Why not?"



Thursday, February 5, 2009

The Rhythm of Rest

Recently, I rediscovered the benefit of having a rhythm to rest. I tend to push rest down my priority list, behind random emergencies, work and family, community and church. Sometimes, I push it so far down, it falls off the list. Last weekend, I “got off the carousel” to go to the Monastery of the Holy Spirit in Conyers, Georgia, with two friends from Independent Presbyterian Church in Birmingham, Alabama. We’re part of a Spiritual Formation Group searching for ways to help our congregation move beyond intellectual study and "experience" God.

We went to five services a day, starting at 4 a.m. (appropriately called "vigils") and ending with the "great silence" around 8 p.m. (none of my friends believe I'm capable of great silence except while eating). There was something meaningful and authentic about setting these specific times aside for God, something reminiscent of a bell chiming the hour or waves crashing against the shore.

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