Pilgrim's Progress with Flora Davies: Rest
I hope you’ve had a good summer. I have had the privilege this year of some quiet walks and drives in the New Forest, watching ponies, donkeys and cows wandering freely and grazing nonchalantly by the roadside as if they own the place, which of course they do!
We’re now officially into autumn. Schools are back, holidays are over and, according to the retailers, Christmas is around the corner!
Thoughts of holidays and rest times soon become distant memories and before we know it, we are clock-watching and chasing our tails again.
This is a world that encourages us to work, work, work… and if we don’t, or we can’t, we so easily feel guilty.
The weeks and seasons go by in a rush… that is unless we make time to stop and rest.
Here in the Wakefield district, we are blessed with parks, beautiful patches of green fields and water.
One of my favourite Sunday afternoon activities is a gentle stroll by the canal. Nature has an amazing way of calming the mind and slowing us down, for a few minutes at least.
We were never meant to live life in a permanent rush.
Did you know that even God took time out to rest and reflect? At the end of the creation story (found at the beginning of the Bible) we read that ‘on the seventh day God rested from all his work of creating’.
It’s not only OK to stop and rest now and again, but also essential for good health. Our minds and bodies need space and time to find fresh energy and inspiration.
Sometimes we need to remind ourselves that it’s time for a day off. Why not put your feet up or go out and enjoy some of that wonderful nature that God has given us?
Flora Davies, Wakefield Baptist Church