Weariness
I sit at the kitchen table in my usual chair and stare out the window into the dark. It is early morning, and dawn is still several hours away, so the dark of night encases me as I sit quietly sipping my coffee. I haven’t turned on a light, and I can see beyond the window the shadowy shapes of the trees and the distant line of the horizon where the earth’s dark horizon meets the night sky’s blue-black.
Although it is Monday, I am tired. A low level of physical fatigue seems ever-present in this season of my life. I have grown accustomed to ignoring it most of the time, but as the days of Autumn shorten, I find myself discouraged with a soul-weariness that matches my physical lethargy, and I wonder how much longer I can keep this pace that I have set for myself. Yet, looking at the daily rhythms of my life, I see nothing I want to discard from my schedule to allow for more sleep. Aside from my job, there is nothing in my life that isn’t feeding my soul in places where I am barely staving off starvation as it is.
Brilliant Beauty Brings Peace
As I sit in the dark kitchen and offer myself time to read, pray, or just sit quietly, my mind continually wanders, and the peace that I usually find in these moments seems to escape me. “Where are you, God?” I ask as I try to quiet my wondering mind. Then, almost as if in answer to my prayer, I watched an orange sliver of a waning crescent moon rise cupped like a bowl, and in its light, I could see the round shape of the entire moon, though most of it was cast in shadow. The sight was stunningly beautiful.
At that moment, I felt a peace wash over me, and the weight of my weariness lightened. There were no profound solutions to my problem of juggling all that lay before me in a day and still allowing sufficient time for sleep. But as I watched the moon rise above the horizon and then above the shadowy trees, I was at rest. The words of Matthew 11:28 that I had learned as a child came to mind. “Come unto me all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” The cadence of the Old King James version was both familiar and comforting. God’s presence was there with me, filling me with peace in this busy season.
Two Minutes to Stop
Life is busy for many of us. Perhaps you, too, feel overwhelmed by a rush of activities that pushes us through our days like a howling, West Texas wind. Or, maybe you feel worn down and bone weary by a ‘to-do’ list that seems to grow longer each day. In the words of an old hymn, sometimes we need to ‘cast your deadly doing down, down at Jesus’ feet,’ slow down, and perhaps trim some things from our schedule. Other times, we are simply called to ‘take up our cross’ and follow, trusting He will provide strength for the journey.
Later that morning, as I left for work, the crescent moon was above the treetops, and light from the sun that still lay beneath the horizon had begun to tint the clouds pink. According to my phone, I had two minutes before I absolutely had to leave. So, I stopped my Jeep, stepped out, and lifted a brief prayer of praise for two more minutes to bask in the beauty of the dawning day and the peace of the moment that would travel with me through another busy day. I pray you, too, find two minutes to pause and praise.