(there is no letter from John Peck this month)

Letter from Wendy

Walking….away from hassle… towards peace?

Getting out into the open air, and walking - leaving the hassle of life behind - is one of my favourite pastimes. I love the sound of crunching across dry leaves, listening to the wind rustling over the landscape, and even (if necessary) sheltering beneath a canopy of leaves as the rain beats down overhead! Walking, for me, even with others around, can offer a time of solitude, when I can feel close to God and his creation. It is an occasion for personal 'restoration'.

Time spent in this way, is vital to my physical and spiritual health. It offers a renewed sense of proportion to problems worrying my mind and enables that extra boost of energy to set about the tasks that lie ahead, both at home and at work.

(Called 'wellbeing' in the old days - 'wellness' is the current ugly word to describe this!)

There are however, occasions when I almost feel 'guilty' about being able to appreciate so much - the very ability to feel muscles strained walking up a hillside or scrambling over rocky ground or experiencing simple joy whilst eg. wading through a stream. Since my Occupational Therapy job brings me constantly alongside people experiencing disability and impairment, it becomes a cruel fact that my own restoration involves a pastime that many of my clients can no longer enjoy. 

I recall my mother expressing a similar deep sense of guilt when she finally owned up to needing respite care after my stepfather had a stroke. Although everyone close around, recognised her need to take a break in the 'caring role' (to recharge her own batteries, body and soul) Mum resisted for ages and consequently herself became debilitated.

Unfortunately this remains a common occurrence for many, today. It shouldn't, especially when we look to the Bible to seek the lessons about personal restoration. The need for physical and spiritual rest is well recognised in Scripture and provision is made for ensuring that people are allowed time for rest, not only to "renew strength" but also to "know peace":

"Then, because so many people were coming and going that they did not even have a chance to eat, he (Jesus) said to them, "Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest." (Mark 6:31)

"He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, he restores my soul." (Psalm 23:2,3)

"He gives power to the faint and strengthens the powerless. Even youths will faint and be weary and the young will fall exhausted; but those who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength, they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint." (Isaiah 40: 29-31)

Restoration (i.e. 'the returning of something or someone to their original state') is most fully found therefore through the redeeming work of Jesus Christ. The nature, in which you or I best meet with God is not an occasion for guilt, but one to be celebrated, and important to be part of our regular commitment. For Christ promises not only renewal of one's being to an original state, but offers a greater 'ongoing-capacity' that somehow 'lightens' the original burden. This is the reality experienced when we accept 'the peace of the Lord'.

"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden light." (Mt 11: 28,29)

May God bless you.

    Wendy Gourlay