In today’s meditation on the Hallow app, I heard about a book called, “The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry”, by John Mark Comer. Evidently this book shares wisdom of practical ways to find peace and stillness in the crazy world we live in. The foundation is to practice the Sabbath, which we know as Sunday. From the book;

“The word Sabbath comes to us from the Hebrew Shabbat. The word literally means to stop. The Sabbath is simply a day to stop. Stop working, stop wanting, stop worrying – just stop.”

The faithful follow God’s example from the book of Genesis. He created the world in 6 days and on the 7th He rested. God knows that our lives are hectic and stressful. We need a day to rest, to re-energize so we can continue. If we fight against this pattern God has laid out for us, we are fighting the natural flow of the universe itself. To practice Sabbath means that we rest and worship God. At the end of the reflection, it was suggested to think of what a true Sabbath would be for me. I would start by going to church, which I am pretty good about doing. But it would take effort to spend the rest of the day worshipping God and relaxing at the same time. I do enjoy being in nature and definitely find God’s presence there. Perhaps reading a book, playing the piano, visiting a friend. And I do like to watch football. I wonder how that is honoring God? In any case, I do find value in taking a day to be with God and stop all the busy-ness. Time to breathe, to be still.

I Found God today in a practical way to be still.

This picture from the Shrine of Our Lady of Champion shows the outdoor Stations of the Cross. The fence surrounds the property. In 1871 the great Peshtigo fire rampaged through Wisconsin. The fenced 5 acres of land and the school, convent, and church that were consecrated to Our Lady were left untouched.