Plenary, 27 Jun 2001
Meeting date: Wednesday, June 27, 2001
Official Report
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Time for Reflection
To lead our time for reflection today, I welcome Sister Isabel Smyth, who is the secretary of the Scottish Inter Faith Council.
Sister Isabel Smyth (Scottish Inter Faith Council):
Today, there is a buzz and excitement around because the holidays are drawing near. There is a general rush to get everything done before we can leave things behind and take a break. I am sure that there is a sense of achievement and a sense of satisfaction of things well done—and much has been well done by the Parliament. However, there will also be the memory of things not so well done, of mistakes and misunderstandings.
Holidays are a time for letting go of all those things, for putting them behind us and for allowing ourselves to take some rest. Rest is not, on the whole, something that we are very good at. We tend to define ourselves by what we do rather than by what we are, yet the Judaeo-Christian tradition teaches that it is as divine to rest as it is to work.
In Genesis, we are told that God blessed and made the seventh day holy. Why? Because
"on it God rested from all the work which God had done in creation."
The holiest day in the week is not a day when work is done, but the Sabbath—the day of rest. The rabbis speak of the Sabbath as the rest of God and as a return to the silence that was there before God uttered his creative word. Rest and relaxation are part of God.
We are also told in the book of Genesis that we human beings are made in the image and likeness of God. Therefore rest and relaxation in our lives are important and, in fact, necessary if our work is to be creative and purposeful. We all need Sabbath times, holidays and holy days to renew and refresh our spirit, to savour and enjoy life. Without those moments, our work will be ineffective and we will be in danger of suffering burn-out or some other illness.
We need Sabbath moments—moments when we can return to the space within us to restore our spirit and get in touch with our inner wisdom. One such moment is this time for reflection—a moment of stillness in a busy day and week. And so I invite you to be still for a moment, to be silent, to savour the moment, allowing yourself to relax into it. As you relax, become aware of the pattern of your breathing. As you breathe in, calm your body, saying to yourself, "calm". As you breathe out, allow yourself to smile, saying to yourself, "smile". Breathing in, become aware of this as the present moment; breathing out, become aware of it as a wonderful moment.
And so we have calm; smile; present moment; wonderful moment.
And so I wish you Sabbath rest when it comes, full of delight and refreshment, and pray that God will bless to you the earth beneath your feet, the path whereon you go and the things of your desire.