Ceaseless Work

Autumn has always been a time of reflection for me. Growing up in Upstate New York, we ushered in beautiful colors and brisk weather with the eager anticipation of slowing down during the cold winter months.

I took some time yesterday to reflect on a sentence from the Rule of the Society of Saint John the Evangelist: “The one who can find no happiness except in ceaseless work is afraid to be still and know that the Lord alone is God."

I finished a big, multi-year project recently, and a friend asked, “What are you going to start on next?”

My answer: “Nothing. It’s time to rest.”

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Our days and nights are lived in perpetual motion. We’ve traded quiet evenings around the dinner table for fast food shared at soccer games and cheerleading practice. During our “down” time, we’re constantly on our iPhones and iPads, trying to learn something new, or connect with someone we aren’t with. Our perpetual activity is a furious fire fueled by our ability to instantaneously connect to knowledge and each other. We go from one exhausting day to the next, our to-do list carried forward with never-ending tasks.

I asked myself: “Am I in perpetual motion because I’m afraid of who I am? Am I trying to fill up my days with good works in an attempt to please God?”

Although faith without works is dead, God’s love is freely given and can’t be earned.

It is when we are still that God comes to sit beside us, and shares His thoughts.

It’s time to rest in my life. Is it time to rest in yours, too?

Blessings, my friend,

Agatha

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