Invitation to come and ... pause

Life has been quite full here lately - kids to school, photography, calendar project, writing, subbing sometimes, exercise, being a mom, being a friend, being a wife.  Yesterday I was reminded of another busy time in my life when God asked me to begin a counter-intuitive practice.

See, my first reaction in the midst of busyness is to make a list, get efficient, and go into "task mode" - using every moment for doing and completing the tasks at hand.  However, at a previous point in my life, the Lord allowed me to be exposed to the daily offices (fixed times during the day when we stop to pray).  Phyllis Tickle writes "the offices open to me four times a day and call me to remember Who owns time and why.  All that means really is that four times a day the Watchmaker and I have conversation about the clock and my place as a nano-second in it."

So in the midst of my busyness, God was asking me to pause - to stop what I was doing, trust that He could keep the earth spinning without my help, and come have conversation with Him.  It is counter-intuitive because it makes me stop when I think I should keep moving, it waits when I think I should be efficient, and it says "no" for a few moments to all those things screaming for my attention.

So yesterday, in the midst of my busyness, God offered the invitation again.  I looked up on my bulletin board above my computer and there was the Midday Prayer; an invitation to pause and give my work back over to the Creator.  It was not "magical" or emotional but it brought my heart back to be centered around a Person rather than a clock.

If you want to practice the rhythm of pausing, here is the midday prayer (from Northumbria Community in Ireland).  It is short, but it is a very much needed pause.

Midday Prayer –My Work

Take a moment to pause

Opening

Let the beauty of the Lord our God be upon us.
Establish Thou the work of our hands;
establish Thou the work of our hands.

The Lord's Prayer

Our Father, who art in heaven,
hallowed be Thy name;
Thy kingdom come;
Thy will be done;
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread
and forgive us our trespasses
as we forgive those who trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation;
but deliver us from evil.  For Thine is the kingdom, the power and the glory.  Forever and ever.  Amen

Declaration of faith

We believe and trust in God the Father Almighty.
We believe and trust in Jesus Christ His Son.
We believe and trust in the Holy Spirit.
We believe and trust in the Three in One.

Canticle

Teach us, dear Lord, to number our days;
that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom.
Oh, satisfy us early with Thy mercy,
that we may rejoice and be glad all of our days.
And let the beauty of the Lord our God be upon us;
and establish Thou the work of our hands.
And let the beauty of the Lord our God be upon us;
and establish Thou the work of our hands, dear Lord.

Blessing

Let nothing disturb thee,
nothing affright thee;
all things are passing,
God never changeth!
Patient endurance attaineth to all things;
who God possesseth
in nothing is wanting;
alone God sufficeth.

+ In the name of the Father,
the Son,
and the Holy Spirit. Amen