In Others' Words: Rest

"Sometimes the most important thing in a whole day is the rest we take between two deep breaths, or the turning inwards in prayer for five short minutes." ~ Ettie Hillesum, author of An Interrupted Life the Diaries 1941-1943 & Letters from Westerbork

Today is Labor Day, which made me think of rest.

And I thought of the busy summer I had: 

• preparing for my daughter's wedding. Such fun, but work nonetheless. 
• editing my debut novel, Wish You Were Here. A whole other type of fun and work.
• keeping my 10-year-old busy-but-not-too-busy. Fun, fun, fun.
• choosing what to say goodbye to--and stepping down as the editor of Connections, the leadership magazine for MOPS International. 
• managing vertigo. No fun at all.

And through each day, I found myself looking for rest. That moment at the end of the day when I could close my eyes and think, "Done--until tomorrow."

And here's what I've realized: Rest is not something that you push off until the end of the day. Or the end of the busy week or month.

Rest is something you embrace, minute by minute.

That photo? It's me at Bandon, OR. I'm sitting in what a friend named "The Hand of God" tree. 

Works for me.

A good place to rest: in the hand of God.

In Your Words: Where do you find rest?

In Others' Words: Rest

"One hand full of rest is better than two fists full of labor and striving after the wind." Ecclesiastes 4:6

Back when I taught women's Bible studies, I loved doing word studies. It was so intriguing to dig into the meaning of words and watch the deeper truths of a verse unfold.

Take the word "rest" in today's quote. Rest. Quietness. A quiet attitude. Hhhmmm. Discovering that perspective on "rest" begins to turn the verse differently for me.

What about the word "labor"? Toil. Trouble. Mischief. Mischief? That makes me think of being somewhere I don't belong and doing something I ought not to be doing ... am I going to get caught? 

Last word: "wind." (Did you think I was going to look at the word "striving?" It means .... striving.) Wind. A vain, empty thing. 

Rephrasing Ecclesiastes 4:6: One hand full of a quiet attitude is better than two fists full of toil and striving after vain, empty things.

Sometimes I think doing is the most important thing. What do I have to show for all my efforts at the end of the day? This truth tells me that being quiet--learning to cultivate an attitude that allows me to rest--ensures that I am not wasting my time pursuing things of no value.

In Your Words: Rest or striving? Which is more your modus operandi? How do you cultivate rest?