Our pastor said something yesterday in the sermon that caught my attention and my imagination: we should not equate our amusements and entertainments with true rest. For example, if we’ve completed our day’s work and sit down to reward ourselves with some time on social media, play some games, watch a fun show, read an undemanding novel, we tend to think of those things as taking a well-earned rest. There’s nothing necessarily sinful about doing any of those things within bounds, but this is not rest. As our pastor said, “Sin makes us restless; the heart corrupts our desire for rest and seeks amusement instead.” What he said next really caught me: “Rest is when you can face the hard questions of life.”
I’ve been turning that over in my mind quite a bit since hearing it. Perhaps when we are truly at rest, we are not distracting ourselves from important matters but are giving thought to them, which could take the form of journaling, talking to someone else, praying, reading the Word, reading books that encourage and edify us in those matters, etc. We talk about the Sabbath Day as being a day of rest from our regular labors; it’s challenging to think that we’re not just resting “from” something, we’re also resting “for” something. And the kind of rest our pastor was talking about isn’t something that we would do only on Sundays.
When I was walking more regularly, I was inspired by the poet Mary Oliver to use it as a time to think and observe, rather than a time to listen to podcasts, audiobooks or music. There’s something about giving my mind space to think that is restful in and of itself. It’s also where creativity happens.
Lately, I’ve been doing too much “doom scrolling” on Instagram. It’s amusing, entertaining and sometimes interesting, but after 30 minutes of it, I can’t really say it’s restful. It feels more like I just wasted 30 minutes of my time. Distractions, indeed.
Well, that’s what I’ve been musing about today. I’d love to hear your thoughts.
Blessed be the Lord who daily loads us with benefits…
Honeybee slippers for Lynniebee
Snow, snow, snow!
Warm weather to melt aforementioned snow
Good books
Sunrises and sunsets
Quiet evenings
Washing machines and dishwashers
I’ll probably amuse and distract myself before deleting this in the morning.
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Lynniebeemuseoday 
Reading your blog does not count as doom scrolling, since it makes me think, and there for is restful.
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That’s a relief!! 😅
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What has been coming to mind to me is that rest is
being quiet. Perhaps background music, maybe not, but
not having the noise of what we are reading or listening to,
but to be listening for that “still small voice” and giving my heart
a chance to be quiet. It could include meditating on The Word, but not
until we are just quiet. The song “Be still my soul” comes to mind (to the tune of
Finlandia by Jean Sibelius. A song that I’ve been singing lately is “Be still and know that I am God…” I can’t find any information on the Internet about that song.
I am thankful for a job for our son in law.
A visit by our new grandson and his parents. A good place for rehab for my MIL,
A scheduled lunch date with my husband! ❤
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Yes, I think of quiet as well when it comes to rest. I love the hymn you mentioned: Be Still My Soul. We have much to be thankful for – I’m always glad that you share your “daily benefits” in your comments. ❤️
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