Yesterday I went to the doctor for a fasting blood test. After the nurse checked my pulse and blood pressure, she withdrew the requisite two viles of blood. Then there was a period of time, maybe four minutes, before the doctor came into the room.
Because it has always been my creed that you should "never stand when you can sit; never sit when you can lie down", I pulled out the footrest shelf on the exam table and laid down. I was in the midst of a relaxing rest when the doctor came in. It was a perfect "pause that was refreshing".
How many times in our day do we have two, three, four minutes between appointments, stuck in traffic, waiting for someone to show up, watching the meal bake in the oven or the laundry spin dry? In those moments we can rest and relax, breath deeply and pause in an awareness of the goodness of life, the nearness of the presence of God. Leaning back into the arms of God can bring immeasurable peace and refreshment in the midst of the hectic scramble of everyday life.
Such a simple practice with such profound results. What a habit to cultivate for better health, physical, emotional, and spiritual.
I was just reading a magazine yesterday. Vera Farmiga sites a book called Pilgrim at Tinker Creek by Anne Dillard. Why she choses it:When life goes bonkers, and I start to feel skittery-jittery, I find nature medicinal. I'm happiest when I stumble upon dense, cool patches of moist green moss. So this book-about Dillard's year observing the seasons-is almost scriptural. I feel drunk when I read it, spiritually tipsy. Why it's so intoxicating: In one sublime passage, she talks about how in order to see things in all their dazzle and beauty you've got to be STILL. I've always found that paragraph very poignant,because in the age of high-speed Internet, fast food, and express checkouts, we attack everything at breakneck speed-so many people cannot, will not, and do not know how to be STILL.........These are my thoughts especially just returning from the rain forests of Costa Rica....it was so beautiful and STILL....marilyn
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