Yesterday was a great day. One, I took my own advice and it worked and it made me feel more confident in myself. Being disconnected was a very necessary process. In the last few weeks we have been transferring our one on one physical contact, this longing for contact, we have sought in other ways and so we keep trying to connect, keep hoping to be connected with. We have been inundated with news from all over the world and we try to make sense of the Coronavirus for ourselves. Trying to find new ways of living, trying to adjust, trying to hold on. And this constant trying, this searching for answers, this constant looking for information that could be the something that we so desperately want and don’t know what it is or how to get it, this trying is exhausting. It is certainty, that we seek and it is nowhere to be found. We want something solid, something that will set our hearts at rest. And so we scroll, and we search and we look, and every beep of the phone, could be it, could be the call or the message that we so much desire.
Switching off, meant saying for today I am going to consolidate, I am going to see where I truly am and not just focus on what I am looking for. I am going to give thanks for what I have instead of asking for what I think I want. Just for a day, I am going to rest in the now. This of course is the whole principle of Sabbath. It is what God called us to do right from the beginning. It is one of the greatest lessons that we can learn. And so I encourage you, to apply the principle. Daily spend an hour or two offline. Weekly spend an entire day offline. As the prophet says those who wait upon the Lord, will renew their strength. Those who take the time to, not be waiting for the next thing but fully engage in the moment, who meet God in the now, will renew their strength.
May your strength be renewed and God’s peace be established in you.
Your fellow Pilgrim
Fr Andrew
