Do you ever find that you long for a break from the busyness of life, the weekend comes and goes, and on Monday you wake with the feeling that you need another weekend?
This might have something to do with us having un-learned the art of rest. In an age when we are taught that busy-ness breeds success we often forget that rest is essential in a healthy and happy life. The problem is that rest requires humility and this is the central message of today’s gospel reading: true humility accepts that fact that it doesn’t all depend on us and our efforts.
I’m taking a bit of a break today by sharing a post from the Food For Faith archive. It’s one of the most popular video clips that has appeared on Food For Faith and one of the best presentations of the meaning of rest that I have heard.
Last century the well-respected German philosopher Josef Pieper wrote about rest in his book Leisure: the basis of Culture. Pieper suggests that our misguided belief that everything of value can be achieved through work has pretty much eliminated our culture’s ability to truly relax and to play.
Pieper reminds us that leisure is the basis of healthy human existence and therefore of a healthy culture.
At this half way point of our daily Lenten reflections I thought I’d take a break myself and rather than prepare a video clip or reflection I’d share the work of another for our Saturday encouragement.
You might like to take ten minutes to be inspired by this video clip. I guarantee it will change the way you want to use your leisure time.
An invitation
Take a moment to savour this inspiration from Thomas Merton.
“If we strive to be happy
by filling all the silences of life with sound,
productive by turning all life’s leisure into work,
and real by turning all our being into doing,
we will only succeed in producing a hell on earth.”
Thomas Merton, “No Man is an Island
Thank you Fr John. A wonderful introduction as l begin a Spiritual Reflection day on the season of Autumn.
It is a habit at our place to pray together as a family in the evening after dinner, and what you probably don’t know either is that it is becoming a habit to use food for faith reflection of the day, as part of it. It gets chrome casted into the living room TV where it is much easier to read aloud while following with the actual reading in screen by everyone in the room. I guess that your well known DEVELOPING A RELATIONSHIP WITH CHRIST gets much facilitated by your column and in someway it is much more effective (my personal view) and adapted to current change of era than the Sunday preaching or even, no offense intended, to some higher theological content/elaborated wording written press/articles/church dogma.
So in short, I can guarantee that food for faith is of GREAT value in our family, giving us the opportunity, on the right settings to discuss and “educate” our children with your guidance.
The change of text color at the end conclusion/invitation is a master’s move!
Ohhhh YES !!! Breathing deep and long the memory of last night’s walk on the beach; in the breathtaking sunset at Foxton Beach . Shared with my amazing husband!!! Also enjoyed by many others as they lingered in the warm still evening.. Ma…ran ..ath…a…… mmmmmm…. bathed in the colours of creation and the Creator….. sencing the healings of being re…created….