Faces on Faith: Take time to practice ‘the sacred art of stopping’
I was recently given a great gift. My denomination offers a retreat to its clergy. A group of us from throughout the country gathered at a retreat center in the beautiful rolling hills outside of Richmond, Virginia, for a week of inspiration, discernment, reflection, conversation and prayer.
The substance of the retreat was very good. We received input, had discussions and reflected on important questions like: Who am I? Where am I going? Who is God calling me to be? How am I responding to God’s call?
It is good to step back and reflect on these kinds of questions, wherever we are on our faith journey. We can become so distracted as the world presses in on us that we forget that we are God’s beloved, created in God’s image and likeness and called to reflect God’s love to the world.
The conferences, conversations and reflections were rich and meaningful. Colleagues shared how difficult the pandemic has been on their life and ministry, and how we have all been changed by what we have been through. One of the exercises I found especially helpful was this: the presenter encouraged us to list the things that give us life on one side of a sheet of paper and then to turn the paper over and list the reasons why we don’t do them. I read both lists several times throughout the week. I pondered what gave me life and what was preventing me from engaging in those things more often.
We also did something that I have not done for several years. We practiced “the sacred art of stopping.” We had an entire unstructured unscheduled day (apart from meals and a communal worship service). After sleeping in and enjoying a quiet cup of coffee, I left my cell phone and books in my room and ventured to a beautiful hillside overlooking a lush green valley. For more than an hour in the warm sunshine, I watched the birds flitting from tree to bush. They were singing songs as beautiful as any cathedral choir. I simply watched, listened and daydreamed.
It was heavenly. I was living in the moment, appreciating the wonder and beauty of the created world, held in the creator’s arms. As tempted as I was to watch the U.S. Open after that, I spent the day in quiet, walking, sitting, pondering, thanking, living.
So often we can become preoccupied with the regrets of the past or the worries of the future that we forget to live in the moment. We miss what is going on around and inside of us this moment. Take some time to practice “the sacred art of stopping.” Behold the beauty of the world and the people around you and give thanks to the creator for them. For as theologian and author Barbara Brown Taylor says: “It is there, in the clearing, where both the grasshopper and the one who made her can be found.”
The Rev. William “Bill” Van Oss is the rector at Saint Michael & All Angels Episcopal Church.