Pilgrimage – Day 8

Sabbath, Silence and Solitude

Bird song and ringing church bells fill my listening. It is Sunday morning. At least five different bells are calling we humans to pause and listen, to gather and sing praise, just as the birds gather and sing.

We are invited today into a time of sabbath, silence and solitude. Some will go to a church service. Others will make their own ritual. I find myself thinking of the many spiritual communities of which I am a part of at home: my congregation, Visions United; the Contemplative Pathways community and fellow pilgrims who have guided me on the spiritual path; the circle of Godly Play storytellers and children; dear friends who gather as a “book club” every several weeks - “kindred spirits” - whose trusting presence invites me into a communion of deep conversation, laughter and good food whenever we are together. For me, each of these is a Sabbath pause for my soul.

Our retreat director, Christine, spoke of Sabbath as an opening of time where we can enter into the Divine. We often find our ourselves enslaved in the culture of “Pharoah”, losing sight of the grace of sabbath culture offered by “Yahweh” (see Sabbath as Resistance by Walter Bruggemann).

The bird’s song - the church bell- each invites me to rest in a Sabbath moment and ponder the Divine in whose cosmic presence I breathe the breath of life. Claiming Sabbath is greening for my soul - Veriditas.

What does Sabbath rest look like, feel like, sound like, smell like, taste like for you? What brings greening - Veriditas - for your soul?

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September 9-19 Rev. Shawn is on Pilgrimage in Germany: “Hildegard of Bingen and the Greening Power of God”.

St. Hildegard was a 12th century  German Benedictine abbess. She was a mystic, composer, artist, poet, healer, and preacher. These short blog posts share some highlights from Rev Shawn’s pilgrimage.

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