Day 304
Saturday, July 1, 2023

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Scripture
Jesus answered, “I tell you, if my disciples were silent, even the stones would cry out.” —Luke 19:39

Wisdom
When I was a boy I learned to skip stones across a lake. If I threw the stone fast and true, it could skip clear to the other side, barely getting wet. But if I threw it too slowly, it hit the water once, and disappeared. We do not want to disappear. If we slow down we might be pulled by some gravity to the bottom of our feelings; we might drown in all we have lost. So we keep moving, never finding refuge, never touching the tendernesses that propel us into a life of speedy avoidance.

While our speed may keep us safe, it also keeps us malnourished. It prevents us from tasting those things that would truly make us safe. Prayer, touch, kindness, fragrance—all those things that live in rest, and not in speed. Only when we take refuge in rest can we feel the company of the angels that would minister to us, regardless of what we were given. In the stillness there are forces and voices and hands and nourishment that arise, that take our breath away, but we can never know this, know this, until we rest. This is what Jesus talks about when he speaks of the Kingdom of God. It is the Promised Land of the Hebrews, flowing with milk and honey. It is the Pure Land of the Buddha, what all the saints talk about, this place of safety and serenity, available and prepared for us, if we will only stop, and rest. —Wayne Muller, Sabbath: Restoring the Sacred Rhythm of Rest

Prayer
Give me the safety of prayer, the kindness and tenderness of your presence. Give me the land flowing with milk and honey, in which I can rest. Let me stop, find refuge, be centered, be available, be prepared for you in my midst. Amen. —The Reverend Dr. Katie Snipes Lancaster