Alex Swain

He said to them, “Come away to a deserted place all by yourselves and rest a while.” For many were coming and going, and they had no leisure even to eat. - Mark 6:31

Beloved,

I noted in Tuesday’s Daily Bread how prayer is an entrance into shedding anxieties. This occurs, I think, as we focus our souls on God and in so doing step into eternity for a brief moment. In a similar vein, prayer can be a place of deep rest and restoration.

The reversal is also true. Doing things (or NOT doing things) that are restful and restorative can be prayer. And in an ouroboros-like fashion, they all catch us up if but for a moment in God’s eternal landscape!

In general, we are all far too busy. We do too much out of obligation, and not enough out of joy. And this, in turn, deadens our spirits to others, to ourselves, and to God. I know this is true from my own experience, and I certainly think it is a common-enough experience from talking to peers, colleagues, mentors, and friends. 

Even Jesus calls his disciples away to rest in a space, alone, for they were so busy ministering to peoples (doing a “job” in a sense!) that they could not even eat. I suspect we each have had days where we were so busy at work, hopping from meeting to meeting, that we missed meals as well.

This behavior is disturbingly common in modern life, and it is deeply unnatural. The American hyper-individualistic capitalistic society that we live in is, dare I say, a deep affront to God and to our very selves and to creation.

This makes the act of rest (Sabbath! By God’s grace may we get back to a Sabbath!), prayer, and worship of God not only a deeply soul-connecting and restorative act, but also a radical act that upturns the powers and principalities of the day on their head. So let us go into a quiet space, and seek rest, and find it, and gently rejoice in God Almighty.

In Christ,

Alex Swain

Another great space to seek rest in prayer and quietness will be this Sunday at 7:00 PM for Nightsong. Christopher Campbell, well known in the parish, is heading this beautiful outreach event to the Tucson community to invite the spiritually drained and damaged world we inhabit into a space of quiet through compline. It is bound to be a breathtaking and restorative experience, please consider joining in! :) More information can be found here.