Month / August 2024

by Karen Twinem

When God Says “Stop and Rest”

I thought I was giving my all for Christ. But my blood pressure got to 198/93. I got shingles. And my left foot was numb. So God said something unexpected: Stop and rest.

Life has been very difficult since I got a spinal fusion last spring. The recovery looks fine on x-ray. But my whole left side has been in terrible pain. The latest possibility is nerve root inflammation. Who knew my nerves had roots?

Before I got to the neurologist, my ex-husband died, alone and friendless. This is the fellow who tried to kill me in 1985, abused our kids and continued to be verbally abusive to me up to our last telephone call.

Unfortunately the police found his body in a motel in our town, far from our oldest child. I knew God wanted me to help my child with the cremation, private family service and collection of his property. So I did. The price was high.

But then God told me to stop and rest … through my husband, my spiritual director and pastor and private prayer. In fact, He also told me to do something I really love: to enjoy Him. I do enjoy God, especially when I pray, practice His presence, read about Him and … yes … rest in Him. My beloved spiritual director suggested that I give up my service to the church for a year to get back into good condition. So I am.

How does it look to rest every day? For someone with my over-active sense of responsibility and fear of laziness, it’s a challenge. I’ll bet it’s a challenge for you, too. Even those of us who regularly practice a Sabbath, may have a hard time figuring it out.

The how is a two-step process:

  • Figure out how you’ll rest.
  • Figure out when you’ll rest.

Block out 15 minutes on your schedule every day to relax and do what makes you calm: a walk outside, a breathing exercise inside, just sitting outdoors or anything else. You can be alone or with someone else. Just stop and rest.

If you are working, you can rest in a lightly used restroom. You can close your office door. You can rest during lunch. You can stay 15 minutes later to rest before going home. If you are home in the midst of family life, you can go outside. Sit in the car. Close the bedroom door before or after dinner. You can do it! Enjoy God. Every day.

Jesus invited his disciples to “come away by yourselves to a secluded place and rest a while” when the ministry got especially busy. (Mark 6:31) And as Isaiah 30: 15a says: “For thus the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel has said, ‘In repentance and rest you will be saved, in quietness and trust is your strength.’ ” Let’s trust the Lord enough to give ourselves 15 minutes of rest a day.

by Karen Twinem

Remember Hiroshima

Today is the 79th anniversary of the United States dropping an atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan. Then, a few days later, we dropped a second atomic bomb on Nagasaki. Although we had some idea about the kind of death and devastation it would cause.

Mahatma Gandhi said at the time that these bombs would make peace a necessity. Peace has not come.

And, as the World War II generation around the world dies off, actual memories about the two actual uses of atomic bombs die, too. It’s more important than ever to learn about these events so we do not duplicate them.

Christian mindfulness calls for prayer and fasting today as a way to express sorrow over the deaths of these two cities and a combined 226,000 civilians. We as Americans in particular have an obligation to be responsible for making a more peaceful world.

Here is a prayer of lament and repentance:

Above the clamor of our violence, your word of truth resounds, O God of majesty and power. Over nations enshrouded in despair, your justice dawns.

Grant your household a discerning spirit and a watchful eye to perceive the hour in which we live. Hasten the advent of that Day when the weapons of war shall be banished, our deeds of darkness cast off, and all your scattered children gathered into one.

We ask this through him whose coming is certain, whose day draws near: your Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever. Amen.

“Catholic Household Blessings and Prayers”