Time to pause, reflect and see bigger picture

WHAT will you be doing over the bank holiday weekend? Will it be a welcome break from the usual daily patterns? So much of life is measured in time: some of us may feel quite squeezed and be “time poor”, others of us may find we are “time rich” with too much time, for all kinds of reasons, and an extra holiday may not feel welcome.

Yet, we may still discover something precious in the richness and in the poverty of our lives. Bertie, my six-year-old grandson, is learning about time – not just how to tell the time but how to value it. How, if he pauses too many times on the journey to school – no matter how interesting the caterpillars/ants/leaves – he will be late and miss the start of lessons. Yet pauses can be a good thing.

I have recently spent some time hearing about some colleagues’ sabbaticals – time away from the usual patterns of life for rest, reflection and renewal. A kind of sacred pause. Sabbaticals in the Bible were originally given to the land to allow it to rest, leaving a field fallow for a year.

Near where I live there is a broad expanse of field, usually planted with barley. As the crop grows it forms a beautiful blue-green sea which moves rhythmically like waves in the wind. This year the field is fallow. It does not look beautiful, yet there is still growth in a different and freer way. A kind of natural sacred pause.

Sabbaticals in our own time may do the same, allowing creative thoughts, new ways of thinking, to bubble up, benefiting both those on sabbatical and those who may be blessed by the results of this time of rest and renewal.

Some have spent sabbaticals on pilgrimages – to Holy Island off the Northumbrian coast, along the Camino to Santiago de Compostela in Spain, meeting all kinds of people along the way.

Others have taken time out on a silent retreat. My own sabbatical involved time away in Chile. Taking us out of our usual rhythms often leads to transformations in our everyday lives, perhaps offering a clearer and bigger picture, transforming our being and doing and, rather like Bertie on his way to school, they can help us to notice some of the things we usually rush past.

Pausing can help us to notice what God may be calling us or nudging us to do or be. Listening to these beautiful words of Jesus helps us to pause – even for a moment. Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens and I will give you rest… a contemporary version of the Bible continues… I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me – watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. (Matthew 11:28-30)

So, what will we do with our extra time this weekend and over the coming months? Is there room for rest and refreshment somewhere along the way?