“We’re all just walking each other home.” Rumi

Read the account of Jesus walking with the two disciples on the Road to Emmaus in Luke 24:13-35. Note how Jesus walked them home … both literally to their home in Emmaus as well as to their home in Him.

They found their home in Him as they were able to discern His presence with Him … through an inner sense (hearts burning within), in the Scriptures, and through the breaking of bread (the Lord’s supper). In your ongoing journey and pilgrimage in this life, what are the ways of discerning His presence that you will take with you?

In Christ, you have the power of the resurrection at work within you which enables a deepening, growing discernment (“having the eyes of your hearts enlightened”). 

“I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers, that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him, having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come. (Ephesians 1:16–21)

Take a walk with God and use your imagination to envision the reality that God is with you. Reflect on your gratefulness for these week spent in the Psalms of Ascent as well as your desire to grow in discerning His presence day by day. Express those reflections to God in prayer or simply walk in silence, knowing that He is present and aware of all your reflections. 

Read the following passage from Ezekiel 47:1–12 which describes water flowing from the temple in a vision given to Ezekiel. As the place where God’s glory and presence dwells, water flowing from the temple is a metaphor for His presence going out to bringing blessing and life and healing. There is a still future realization of the vision in the fullness of God kingdom, and it was also realized in Jesus. Notice that it goes out in all directions (i.e., to all people) and it is transformative (e.g., salt water turned to fresh water) and it brings healing (i.e., leaves for healing). Use your imagination to feel the water bless people “out of Zion.”

Then he brought me back to the door of the temple, and behold, water was issuing from below the threshold of the temple toward the east (for the temple faced east). The water was flowing down from below the south end of the threshold of the temple, south of the altar. Then he brought me out by way of the north gate and led me around on the outside to the outer gate that faces toward the east; and behold, the water was trickling out on the south side.

Going on eastward with a measuring line in his hand, the man measured a thousand cubits, and then led me through the water, and it was ankle-deep. Again he measured a thousand, and led me through the water, and it was knee-deep. Again he measured a thousand, and led me through the water, and it was waist-deep. Again he measured a thousand, and it was a river that I could not pass through, for the water had risen. It was deep enough to swim in, a river that could not be passed through. And he said to me, “Son of man, have you seen this?”

Then he led me back to the bank of the river. As I went back, I saw on the bank of the river very many trees on the one side and on the other. And he said to me, “This water flows toward the eastern region and goes down into the Arabah, and enters the sea; when the water flows into the sea, the water will become fresh. And wherever the river goes, every living creature that swarms will live, and there will be very many fish. For this water goes there, that the waters of the sea may become fresh; so everything will live where the river goes. Fishermen will stand beside the sea. From Engedi to Eneglaim it will be a place for the spreading of nets. Its fish will be of very many kinds, like the fish of the Great Sea. But its swamps and marshes will not become fresh; they are to be left for salt. And on the banks, on both sides of the river, there will grow all kinds of trees for food. Their leaves will not wither, nor their fruit fail, but they will bear fresh fruit every month, because the water for them flows from the sanctuary. Their fruit will be for food, and their leaves for healing.”

Our deepest desires are met in this image of healing and transformation. Ephesians 3:14-19 paint a picture of God’s love extending out in all directions and we find ourselves swimming in His ocean of grace. Jonathan Edward said: “All earthly desires are but streams, but God is the ocean.”

Take a few moments today and reflect upon the ways that God’s presence and love in your life has brought healing and transformation as well as how you are experiencing healing and transformation right now and your prayer for the future. 

Where am I? How have you experienced transformation and healing?

What do I want? What is your prayer for transformation and healing in the days ahead?

How is God loving you? How is God’s presence healing you and transforming you in the present moment?

Prayer: Lord, thank You for walking with me over these weeks. May I continue to let your love and presence shape my life. In your mercy, give me the strength to look to you in all things and for all things. Amen.

Read the Psalm

“May the Lord bless you from Zion!” What poignant way to end these prayers of pilgrimage. Zion was a place but for the people of God in the Old Testament scriptures, it was even more of a concept. Zion was an overarching word for the dwelling place of God. So, the idea behind this last part of the psalm is that all genuine blessing emanates from the house of God/His presence. So, God’s presence is the essence of “blessing.” To pray blessing for someone is to pray that they experience God’s presence and love.

And, as we’ve explored, to be in God’s presence is to be at home in His love … to be at rest in the reality that we are loved. There is nothing to attain. Nothing to achieve. Nothing to prove. As we pilgrimage, this is where we end up. At home. And we realize we’ve been at home all along.

Eugene Peterson suggests this in the Message translation of Romans 5:1-2: “By entering through faith into what God has always wanted to do for us—set us right with him, make us fit for him—we have it all together with God because of our Master Jesus. And that’s not all: We throw open our doors to God and discover at the same moment that he has already thrown open his door to us. We find ourselves standing where we always hoped we might stand—out in the wide open spaces of God’s grace and glory, standing tall and shouting our praise.”

To be home is to be in that place where you are loved … seen, known, understood, and valued. As we consider the invitation to walk home, it is the journey into receiving God’s love. When God wanted to demonstrate this love, we read a few verses later in Romans 5 that “God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” (verse 8) Jesus took on human flesh and died on the cross to set us free and bring us back into an experience of the love of God. When Jesus was first named by the angel to Joseph, He was called Immanuel which means God with us. Rather than love being understood as an abstract idea, God’s love is His presence with us. 

And this is enough. His presence is sufficient. We often walk through life thinking that we need just one more thing. Or, that we need one thing to change in order for us to be happy. Paul’s struggle in 2 Corinthians 12 with some kind of affliction led to him asking for it to be removed, but the Lord said, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” His grace … love … presence in our lives is enough.

The Letter to the Hebrews explores this theme (the sufficiency of Christ) as well and encourages us to look to the cross and see that we are at home and can rest. We can rest from our pursuits for meaning and purpose and happiness, finding that all we need is right here and right now in Christ.

“Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” (Hebrews 4:14–16)

Hebrews encourages us to “enter God’s rest” (4:10) as we “hold fast our confession” (v. 14) and “draw near to the throne of grace.” (v. 16) Essentially, our confession is that Christ is our home and so we draw near rather than turn away.

How are you being led to draw near to the throne of grace? How does a throne of grace and love draw you in ways that a different kind of throne might evoke shame or a desire to distance? Romans 2:4 reminds us that “God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance.” To repent is to turn back toward. Are there ways in which your heart has been turned away and God’s kindness is now calling you to turn back toward home? Brother David Vryhof (SSJE) shared:

“When we awaken and are able to recall who we are and to whom we belong, when we stand up and dust ourselves off and begin the journey home, God comes running to meet us. God offers us forgiveness even though we don’t deserve it. God offers us pardon even though we haven’t earned it. God offers us a home even though we chose to leave it.”

As you consider this journey home, bless His name. Rest in the reality that you are in His presence and therefore in His love.

Reflection questions: are you sensing any new invitations to turn toward God’s presence? to rest in His love? Sit for a few moments and simply meditate on His presence with you. What do you notice shifting in your spirit, your mind, your body?

Prayer: Lord, I receive Your love. I rest in it, knowing that You are always with me and always loving me. Give me eyes to see You and ears to hear You step by step as I continue to journey of walking home. Amen.

Read the Psalm

Psalm 134 is the final psalm in the ascent to the holy place. As one stands on the mountain where the temple resides, this prayer celebrates that God dwells among us. Different than any other faith system in the world, God comes to us. He tabernacles among us and makes the earth His dwelling place. In this sense, everything is a holy place for encounter with the living God. In Christ, we are His dwelling place as well. 

The response in prayer is to “bless the Lord” and “lift up your hands to the holy place.” To be in this place, God’s house, is to be home.

He is our home.

What flows is gratefulness and a desire to celebrate and bless the name of the Lord. To bless is to speak well of someone … to sing their praises. Pause for a moment. No matter how you are experiencing life at the moment … pause and consider the reality that you are in the holy place. You are dwelling with God. Even truer, He is dwelling with you. He is by your side. He will never leave you or forsake. Dwell in the conscious awareness of His presence. Let this reality sink into your bones. 

As you dwell in this place, notice the gratefulness become stronger than any other awareness. Stronger than discouragement. Stronger than fear. Stronger than happiness. Stronger than life itself. Note the comparison between God’s love and life described in Psalm 63:1-4 …

O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you;

         my flesh faints for you, as in a dry and weary land where there is no water.

         So I have looked upon you in the sanctuary, beholding your power and glory.

         Because your steadfast love is better than life, my lips will praise you.

         So I will bless you as long as I live; in your name I will lift up my hands.

In Psalm 84, we are drawn to a similar comparison. Life, here, in God’s presence is better than anything, anywhere. Just a taste is better than drinking deeply all else.

For a day in your courts is better than a thousand elsewhere. I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of wickedness. For the LORD God is a sun and shield; the LORD bestows favor and honor. No good thing does he withhold from those who walk uprightly. O LORD of hosts, blessed is the one who trusts in you! (vv. 10-12)

As we bless His name, our hearts, minds, and bodies are fully oriented toward reality. The reality that life is in Him, with Him, for Him. With a grateful heart, we connect to God’s heart. To the church in Thessalonica, the apostle Paul wrote: “Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.” (5:16–18) This way of “blessing the Lord’s name” (gratefulness) transcends circumstances. And perhaps, rather than seeing three invitations in rejoice, pray, and give thanks, is it possible they are one? Notice what one of the early church fathers, St. Basil the Great, shared in a sermon: 

“When you sit down to eat, pray. When you eat bread, do so thanking Him for being so generous to you. If you drink wine, be mindful of Him who has given it to you for your pleasure and relief in sickness. When you dress, thank Him for His kindness in providing you with clothes. When you look at the sky and the beauty of the stars, throw yourself down before God and adore Him who in His wisdom has arranged things in this way.” (Homily in Psalm 33)

When gratitude for God’s presence and His love in our lives is the lens that colors everything, all things take on a new shade of meaning. From this place, we find ourselves in a place of orientation (toward God) even as our circumstances are disorienting,

Reflection questions: what does gratitude for God look like in your life? What does it mean for you to “lift your hands to the holy place and bless the Lord”? How can you see gratitude reshaping your vision of the world around you?

Prayer: Lord, in Your mercy, may gratitude increasingly be my disposition in all things. Remind me to pray and rejoice always as I give thanks. Lord, I sing Your praises. You are worthy of so much more than I could ever express. Amen.

Read the Psalm

“Behold, how good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell in unity.” Yes, yes, yes. It is the epitome of goodness for God’s beloved to live in unity. It is delightful (pleasant). The images of oil dripping down the beard and robes of Aaron and dew on the mountains of Zion were pictures of blessing. The last line of this psalm compares unity to “life forevermore.” In other words, it is a foretaste of eternity. Brothers (and sisters) dwelling unity is deep blessing. The word “unity” could also be translated “oneness.” It evokes the words of Jesus in John 17 as he prayed:

“I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me.” (17:20-23) 

Jesus seems to repeat Himself in this prayer and the repetition expresses the urgency and passion of the prayer. He deeply desires that the reality of oneness experienced in the Trinity (Father, Son, and Spirit) be what shapes human relationships. Together, as we dwell in the love of Father in Christ through the Spirit, it will produce unity or oneness. That is the natural fruit that is borne. It is good. That word (good) used in Psalm 133 is the same word used to speak of the creation being good as God created it in Genesis 1-2. When brothers and sisters are living in oneness, it is a restoration to the goodness of creation design.

The oneness spoken of in Psalm 133 would have been in the shared pilgrimage to Jerusalem … to the holy place … to the house of the Lord. In this sense, when we are aligned in our purpose to experience the presence of God in our lives above all other pursuits, unity or oneness flows. 

However, we also understand the messiness of relationships where oneness is not the experienced. In fact, for most of us, we know the hurt and pain of broken, seemingly unreconcilable relationships. The idea of oneness may feel unattainable.

As Jesus continued to walk through Holy Week, we see Him gathering His disciples. In this gathering, we observe all the glory and beauty as well as the messiness and pain of human relationships. God the Son was not exempt from difficult interactions, misunderstandings, and even betrayal. Judas, of course, was infamous for betraying Jesus’ love and trust. Peter argued with Jesus about going to the cross. James and John sought to get positions of power and authority because of their association with Jesus. Jesus was set on going to the cross, to make a way for His beloved to live in the Father’s presence. There was not unity around this objective.

As we get nearer to the cross, the tension increases. The cross demands that we lose our life that we might find it. The cross invites us to let go of our own objectives and listen closely to the whispers of God. Amid the tension, Jesus doesn’t fight. He doesn’t argue. He does something entirely unexpected.

He washes feet. On the night He would be betrayed, He served and loved His disciples. Even though not unified experientially, He acted in a way that reflected a deeper unity … a deeper reality. Love and abiding in God’s presence means that we live in ways perhaps not understood. “What I am doing you do not understand now, but afterward you will understand.” (John 13:7)

Right before Jesus washed His disciples’ feet, John reports that “when Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart out of this world to the Father, having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end.” (John 13:1) Jesus lived the good and pleasant way even as the disciples did not understand. Perhaps, our invitation is to do the same. The poet Rumi’s observation that “we’re all just walking each other home” is an apt description of how we choose to see and live from the unity between us all that lies deeper than mere experience.

Reflection questions: who are you being invited to love to the end? What might washing feet look like in your world, with those you are called to love?

Prayer: Father, help me to live the way of Jesus, to love those in my world, whether they understand or not. May I love people to the end. Amen.

Read the Psalm 

As Jesus walked toward the cross, He went to the temple at the beginning of Holy Week:

And he entered the temple and began to drive out those who sold, [he said] to them, “It is written, ‘My house shall be a house of prayer,’ but you have made it a den of robbers.” (Luke 19:45-46)

Pause for moment and imagine the scene. Hear His firm, compassionate, angry, saddened voice quote Isaiah and Jeremiah. As He looked at the temple, He saw that it had become a place that did not prioritize prayer and connection with God as described in Isaiah 56:7: “My house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples.” He also saw that it had become a place to hide from God and even perpetuate sin as proclaimed in Jeremiah 7:11: “‘has this house, which is called by my name, become a den of robbers in your eyes? Behold, I myself have seen it,’ declares the LORD.” 

It may sound like understatement, but Jesus had a deep passion for people. He came (took on human flesh) that people would “have life and have it abundantly.” (John 10:10) Jesus elaborated in John 10:28–30: “I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand. I and the Father are one.” This is no small thing. Jesus describes eternal life as a relational reality that is experienced in the context of fellowship with Him and the Father. We are invited into the divine dance of love. For this, Jesus gave His life and it was His priority. He centered everything in His life around personally connecting with the Father and also extending the invitation of that connection to others. And, of course, His death was the foundation for standing in the grace of God.

It is common for us to live a transactional theology in which we do one thing to get another. For example, we pray a prayer so that God will act in some particular way. Or, we might think that if we do the right thing, we deserve to be rewarded. This is why we may question why bad things happen to good people. However, the invitation of Jesus is to a relational theology in which everything is seen through the lens of relationship with God. We ask prayerful questions like: “God, how are You with me in this?” Or, “Father, what do You see?” Our lives are about dwelling with (or, abiding with) God. He is our home, our dwelling place.

As our lives are shaped by the reality that God is our home, it becomes our priority and also the lens through which we look at life. The grid for making decisions. The filter that we run everything through. Thomas Keating said: “Every human pleasure is meant to be a stepping-stone to knowing God better or to discovering some new aspect of God. Only when that stepping-stone becomes an end in itself – that is, when we overidentify with it – does it distort the divine intention. Everything in the universe is meant to be a reminder of God’s presence.”

What does prioritizing the presence of God look like for you? How are you centering your life around the glorious reality that you are in Christ? That you have access to the God of the universe?

In 2 Corinthians 4:7, the apostle Paul wrote that what we have in Christ is a “treasure in jars of clay.” The treasure is that we have access to God through the Holy Spirit. At the end of 2 Corinthians 3, the treasure is described like this: “now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit. (vv. 17-18)

David’s passion in Psalm 132 (“I will not give sleep to my eyes or slumber to my eyelids, until I find a place for the LORD, a dwelling place for the Mighty One of Jacob”) is matched by His prioritization of a plan to make it happen. While it all unfolded a bit differently than expected (David did not end of building the temple – 1 Chronicles 22), His focus did lead to his son Solomon building it. 

Reflection questions: how are you being invited to prioritize the presence of God in your life? Are there things that distract you or resistances that you experience? What might it look like to deepen in your experience of God’s presence? (in practical terms)

Prayer: Lord, in Your mercy, may I live with a sense of focus on experiencing Your presence. Give me wisdom to know how to structure my life around You. Amen.

Read the Psalm

In this psalm, we pause to ask God to remember the passion of David. David made a vow that he would not sleep until He established a permanent place for God’s presence to dwell. Before Jesus, the people of God built a tabernacle where God would dwell: “and let them make me a sanctuary, that I may dwell in their midst.” (Exodus 25:8) It was a tabernacle that could move with the people while they journeyed through the wilderness to the promised land. It would later contain the Ark of the Covenant which contained the Ten Commandments on stone tablets, the rod of Aaron, and a jar of manna … all remembrances of the journey. While God interacted with His people through Moses, He desired for all His people to have a physical reminder as well as a place to go where He could be sought.

Even after the people made it to the land of promise after 40 years, the tabernacle and the ark continued to bounce from place to place. David vowed that he would find a permanent place so that people could “go to His dwelling place … [and] worship at His footstool.” (132:7) The promise of David was a desire for all people to have access to worship. The city chosen was Jerusalem (v. 13). In the final verses of the psalm, the prayer shifts to remembering the vow (promise) that God made to David for his ancestors to sit on the kingly throne of Israel. With a promise of a king as well as priests for a place of worship, the people prayed for the anointed one (v. 10) who would be both king and priest. The word anointed is the word “meshiach” or Messiah.

As the pilgrims approached Jerusalem and Mount Zion … singing and praying these psalms … they invoked this story in prayer because of a desire to be equally passionate about God and the experience of His presence. Much was promised in the gift of a place to worship (provision, salvation, joy – vv. 15-16) and it was tied together with the promised anointed one, or Messiah.

As we come to Psalm 132, we might consider how Jesus would have understood and prayed this psalm. First, He likely saw Himself in this psalm. The idea of a tabernacle was fulfilled in Jesus: “and the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.” (John 1:14) The word “dwelt” is literally “pitched a tent” which is the concept of tabernacle. We read of a future fulfillment of this idea in Revelation 21:3: “and I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, ‘Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God.’”

Second, Jesus would likely have identified with the passion of not being satisfied until God’s presence (through Himself) was accessible to all. He was passionately focused on getting to Jerusalem where the promise of salvation for all peoples would be fulfilled. Consider Luke 9:51 where it is said that Jesus “intently set his face toward Jerusalem.” The idiom of setting one’s face communicated intense passion for a desired objective. Jesus knew what He was about.

Twice in this psalm, the people are described as shouting for joy. “In your presence, there is fullness of joy.” (Psalm 16:11) Is our joy tied to God’s presence? If it is, we will be passionate about experiencing and knowing God’s presence. We tend to be passionate about what brings us joy. Many joys in life are fleeting and not a “fullness of joy.” However, when our passion meets God’s passion of finding joy in God’s presence, we are now in dwelling the realm of deep, lasting, full joy.

The promise of the New Covenant (fulfilled in Jesus) is described in Jeremiah 31:33-34: “For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the LORD: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people. And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, ‘Know the LORD,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the LORD. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.”

Reflect for a few moments on the reality of God dwelling with us and implications described in Jeremiah 31. We have access to God. His presence is available to us. This is our joy. Our passion. Indeed, the dwelling place of God is us.

Reflection questions: where is your joy? Are there lesser joys you are being invited to release? Are you passionate about God’s presence? What might it look like to develop your passion?

Prayer: Lord, in Your mercy, may I find my joy in You alone and may that be the passion of my life. Knowing You and offering the experience of Your presence to others. Amen.

“We’re all just walking each other home.” Rumi

Share with at least one other person what has been shaped in you as you begin this journey. Share your desires for the journey and what you are noticing about yourself in relation to God’s presence with you.

If meeting with a group, walk through some of the reflection questions and share together. What is your prayer/desire that you might hold before God after these first days of Walking Home? Share with the group and pray for one another. 

Take a walk with God and use your imagination to envision the reality that God is with you. Reflect on your gratefulness for the previous week as well as your desires for the coming week. Express those reflections to God in prayer or simply walk in silence, knowing that He is present and aware of all your reflections. 

Take some prayerful time today to review the week and savor the goodness and grace of God with you. Engage the following questions as an examen for the week. In addition, engage in a creative exercise: write a poem, paint a picture, plant a flower, stack some stones, etc.

The examen each week will center around discernment, desire, and dwelling. 

• Do I have a sense of where I am? Or what is the state of my soul? (discernment) This question is important so that we are meeting God where we are and not where we’d like to be or think we should be. 
  • What do I want? (desire) We examine our desires because desire is the foundation for a life of seeking God’s heart. We may have desires we do not want or desires that are less than a desire for God, but we ask this question to notice how our desires are being shaped, reshaped, and deepened. 
  • How is God loving you? (dwelling) In the house of the Lord (which is prayer), we experience God’s love. Noticing the ways God is loving us deepens our awareness of and connection to dwelling (abiding) in God’s loving presence. 

Take some time with each of these questions … perhaps journaling your responses. Slow down and notice.

Where am I? (the discipline of discernment) 

What do I want? (the discipline of desire) 

How is God loving you? (the discipline of dwelling)

Prayer: Lord, help me to patiently rest in Your love. Amen.

Creative Exercise … engage in something that gives expression to your experience this week. Consider sharing this with someone, or keep it between you and the Lord.

Read the Psalm

From a place of humility, we open ourselves and receive God’s rest. Humility is required because restfulness of heart means that we have released control of outcomes, restfulness of body means that we know we have limits, and restfulness of mind means that we acknowledge there are things we don’t know. The first gift that God gave humanity was a day of rest in which labor would cease for twenty-four hours. In effect, God was saying: I will hold all of this while you let your body, mind, and heart rest.

Rest is usually not seen as a gift in our modern world but as something we earn. However, this is not the pattern we see in Scripture where rest is the place from which all else flows. In the creation, the design of a day was this: “there was evening and there was morning, the [next] day.” (Genesis 1) Still to this day, observers of Sabbath begin on Friday evening at sundown and go through the next day at sundown. The Biblical day begins with sleep and rest. In An Unhurried Life, Alan Fadling wrote: “We tend to see rest as the place we fall into after we’ve worn ourselves out with work. But what if our best work begins from a place of rest?”

Jesus invited us in our weary, heavy-laden states to come and find rest in Him: “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” (Matthew 11:28-30) Following Jesus is not burdensome but is grounded in love. As we experience the love of God, Zephaniah 3:17 suggests that our souls are quieted: “The LORD your God is in your midst … he will quiet you by his love.”

The image of this kind of rest is a “weaned child with its mother.” A weaned child is content and at peace, held by the mother. On the other hand, an un-weaned child wiggles and squirms, wondering when the next meal will be. The soul at rest has learned to trust in the love and provision the mother offers. 

Because of humility grounded in the love of God, the prayer of Psalm 131 describes two elements of rest: calmness and quietness of soul. The calm soul is one that has detached from anything but God. Our souls become turbulent or even agitated when we have disordered loves. When we are not attached to God as our core love but hold attachment to anything in the created order, our soul will struggle. We won’t be content because nothing else can satisfy but God alone. The quiet soul is uncluttered. When our souls are cluttered, we’ve allowed noise of various kinds to take up residency … being distracted by things that don’t matter. Restfulness of soul is ours as we simply notice and let go of resistances and distractions. 

Rooted in His love for us, we desire to release our clinging hands from anything other than God and we also desire to release distractions that would keep us from seeing and hearing Him. Then, from that place of calm and quiet, we are enabled to notice and respond to God’s love and presence in our lives. 

This place of restfulness of soul is what it means to love and be loved. In John 1:18, we read of Jesus: “No one has ever seen God; God the only Son, who is at the Father’s side, he has made him known.” “At the Father’s side” is literally, “in the bosom of the Father.” It is a picture not unlike Psalm 131. This is home. This is where we belong. Love leads us to humility which leads us to rest in the love of God.

Speaking of living in God’s love, Thomas Merton wrote: “It is only in this love that we at last become real. For it is here that we most truly share the life of One God in Three Persons … (who) infinitely transcends every shadow of selfishness.”

Reflection questions: in what ways are you not calm or quiet? What things are you resistant to release? What distractions might you be invited to release?

Prayer: Lord, by Your grace, I rest in Your love as I humble myself before You. I will calm and quiet my soul, knowing that I desire you more than all else. Amen.