Details? Oh, you want DETAILS... Ok...
Well, today is Wednesday, and therefore, as you all know, it is Donna Day {Not to be confused with the now defunct Sheri & Donna Day, which, by the way, was usually a Tuesday}. And, being Wednesday, or Donna Day, I had Ladies' Bible Study this morning. I led. We studied the Spiritual Disciplines of Rest, and of Secrecy (not secrecy as in telling lies, but secrecy as in the Matthew 6 secrecy - "do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret"). I won't say much about the discipline of Secrecy except to say that if you get the chance you ought to read about the life of George Meuller, and his orphanages in England in the 1800's. His is a very inspiring story.
There are a few things, however I would like to share on the discipline of Rest. First is a quote by Carrie Snow, which I think is rather appropriate...
"No day is so bad that it can't be fixed with a nap." ~ Carrie Snow
This chapter in Keith Drury's book "With Unveiled Faces", talks about how Rest is rooted in Creation itself. He says, on page 52, that in Genesis 2:2, God rests after 6 days of creating. He then poses a few interesting, hypothetical questions.
"Was God so worn out that He needed to catch up on sleep? Why would God cease to work on the seventh day? You'd think that if God were truly God, He could work 24-hours a day without getting worn out, wouldn't you?"He then goes on to state:
"Yet Genesis pictures God taking a day off. Perhaps we are told this to remind us that taking time off is built into Creation itself -- it is not an option."
"God simply rests. Ceases work. Does nothing."This is a very intriguing point. God did not HAVE to rest on the seventh day. He CHOSE to rest... And thereby set the president for us all. Drury states that we would have been more efficient had God designed us to NOT NEED rest, but He didn't. What do YOU think about that?
He says that we become "hooked on hurry"... Like it is an addiction, or some such thing. I do know some people who are not happy unless their calendars are double, triple, quadruple booked! They are, indeed, "hooked on hurry"! Thankfully, I am not one of them. I kinda lean toward the quote by Carrie Snow that I shared with you.
Then he talks about how not getting enough rest is detrimental to our health -- mental, emotional, physical, and Spiritual. We become cranky, irritable, etc {No, you don't say???} He even goes so far as to say that depriving our bodies of rest is actually abusing our bodies, of which we are to be good stewards.
It was a very good chapter. You really ought to read it.
Guitar and piano lessons... well, they are pretty self-explanatory. I had my guitar and piano lessons today. Had fun. Got a couple two piano duets to do with Juliet. That will be a new challenge for me which I am looking forward to. Learned some scales on my guitar, which is great because if I can learn the NOTES I can learn to pluck, so that is very exciting.
High Tea... Well, Juliet, Penney and I went out for the afternoon to a couple gift~y-type shops, then to the Tea House, beside Lawrencetown Beach and had High Tea. Teasingly I asked Juliet, who is a Brit, for those of you who do not know, if we were actually having "Tea", as we stopped for tea and scones. She, then, proceeded to explain to me the difference between "Tea" and "High Tea", and, in actual fact, we were having a "proper High Tea" (but she was very doubtful the Queen would appreciate having me over for High Tea if I really insisted picking all the raisins out of my scones. They really should warn you if they are going to put "bugs" in your scone... I hate raisins! They feel like bugs...ew ew ew ew ew ew...)
After High Tea, I headed off home to get ready for -- you guessed it -- Bible Study. TONIGHT we looked at Conversions and Baptisms. Not quite as interesting as the Discipline of Rest. I did not really learn anything new. It is just nice to go to Bible Study and not argue with Blair...
The very last sentence in the chapter on rest says:
"Maybe we should all stop reading this chapter {Blog?} right now and go take a much-needed nap."
And so, with that I bid you all a fond farewell, and wish you all a very peaceful rest... Good Night all...
And so, today, this is...
Life As I Know It
3 comments:
I agree with your assessment on naps. I have gotten into the habit of napping around suppertime. This seems to give me the extra little bit of energy to get through the evening. I am sure it is not quite what God meant for our day of rest to be. Sunday's always were a day of rest in the Valley. Everything shut down, nothing open except gas stations and corner stores. Would it not be simpler just to go back to the old days??? No rushing, no hurrying, just doing what needed to be done and then doing nothing but spending time with God and family on Sunday???? Yeah, I think I miss those days...even if I didnt live in them. As for your piano (always knew you would go back to it one day and have the same passion for it that you did as a teenager) and guitar lessons??? GREAT JOB keep it up. Donna, your blog is always interesting and I do appreciate the details this week. I LOVE TEA TIME...no matter what you call it...oh wait...tea is calling my name...wonder what kind wants me to drink them tonite???? Vanilla??? Rooibos??? No...white tea???? Nooooo...Oh well which ever one falls out of the tea cupboard is the one tonite. Good night Auntie Donna thank you thank you for the detailed blog.
Yes, the old days would be so much simpler (Simplicity was last week's lesson).
Yes I am very passionate about the piano, about music in general -- making it more than listening to it. I REALLY want to learn how to play my guitar. I am SO looking forward to sing-songs around a fire!
The detailed blog...Writing is something else I am passionate about. You are right. I have not been allowing myself the time to write my blog as I had intended it to be written..."with flair"...haha I enjoyed it tonight.
BUT, now I am going to go to bed. Night...
I agree that life would be easier if God had made us free of the need to sleep or even nap. I, for one, don't get naps in... if I nap, I won't sleep at night. I will use my naptime to rest, though, now that I have permission to do so! :)
YAY!
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