Creation is Continuous

Creation, we are taught, is not an act that happened once upon a time, once and forever. The act of bringing the world into existence is a continuous process. God called the world into being, and that call goes on. There is this present moment because God is present. Every instant is an act of creation. A moment is not a terminal but a flash, a signal of Beginning. Time is perpetual innovation, a synonym for continuous creation. Time is God's gift to the world of space.... We cannot solve the problem of time through the conquest of space, through either pyramids or fame. We can only solve the problem of time through the sanctification of time. To men alone time is elusive; to men with God time is eternity in disguise. Creation is the language of God, Time is His song, and things of space the consonants in the song. To sanctify time is to sing the vowels in unison with Him. This is the task of humans: to conquer space and sanctify time.... Eternity utters a day.

-Abraham Joshua Heschel, The Sabbath

more quotations may be found here on Kairos Spiritual Formation Quotes page

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Holiness in Time

The meaning of the Sabbath is to celebrate time rather than space. Six days a week we live under the tyranny of things of space; on the Sabbath we try to become attuned to holiness in time. It is a day on which we are called upon to share in what is eternal in time, to turn from the results of creation to the mystery of creation; from the world of creation to the creation of the world.

-Abraham Joshua Heschel, The Sabbath

more quotations may be found here on Kairos Spiritual Formation Quotes page

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The Attitude Toward Leisure

"February 25,1956... The greatest change between now and seventy years ago is in the attitude toward leisure. Now there is no such thing... In my experience you can have ability without leisure, but ability only, and not creativeness, Real ideas come to me while relaxed, and brooding, meditative, passive. Then the unexpected happens. An illumination, a combination of words, a revelation for which I made no conscious preparation. And seventy years ago one had time for everything, for[open-hearted] reading, for equally [openhearted] discussion, for activities whose only result was to strengthen, refine, and clarify our own selves as works of art, and not as now to be considered only when producing material results."

Sunset and Twilight by Bernard Berenson

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Play Needs No Purpose

Play needs no purpose. That is why play can go on and on as long as players find it meaningful. After all, we do not dance in order to get somewhere. We dance around and around. A piece of music doesn't come to an end when its purpose is accomplished. It has no purpose, strictly speaking. It is the playful unfolding of a meaning that is there in each of its movements, in every theme, every passage: celebration of meaning. Pachelbel's Canon is one of the magnificent superfluities of life. Every time I listen to it, I realize anew that some of the most superfluous things are the most important for us because they give meaning to our human life. We need this kind of experience to correct our worldview. Too easily are we inclined to imagine that God created this world for a purpose. We are so caught up in purpose that we would feel more comfortable if God shared our preoccupation with work. But God plays. The birds in a single tree are sufficient proof that God did not set out with a divine no-nonsense attitude to make a creature that would perfectly achieve the purpose of a bird. The purpose of a bird. What could that purpose be I wonder? There are titmice, juncos, and chickadees; woodpeckers, gold finches, starlings and crows. The only bird never created is the no-nonsense bird. As we open our eyes and hearts to God's creation, we quickly perceive that God is playful, a God of leisure.

Gratefulness, the Heart of Prayer by Brother David Steindl-Rast

more quotations may be found here on Kairos Spiritual Formation Quotes page

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December is my Sabbath Month

December is my Sabbath month. Every year, I reserve December for a sabbatical rest from my hectic life. I know many of my friends think I am crazy to do so many things at one time. I am used to multitasking, one useful skill I picked up early in my medical and pastoral career. Personally, I feel that being bivocational is more demanding on a person. A Sabbath month is different from a sabbatical. I still continue to practice paediatrics and serve in ministry but I have planned to reduce my engagements to a minimal. For me December is a time for rest and refreshing in the Lord, reflection on the year past and the year to come, and to do some forward planning.

In December, I normally ask myself three questions:

(1) How have I loved and did I love well?
In this, I do not look at the things I have done this year; how many sermons or lectures I have given, how many retreats I have led, how many articles or books have I written or people helped in my medical practice. Basically these activities are incidental. I can tally them up and make an impressive curriculum vitae (CV). What I want to know is how have I loved God and other persons through these activities? And have I loved well? Do people perceive my love to be genuine?

(2) Where am I on my journey?
I shall be looking for spiritual and physical marker stones (Ebenezer) in this year. Where am I in my journey with God? Am I bearing the fruit of the Spirit? Am I being gentler with others and with myself? Am I growing old gracefully or am I getting grumpier in my old age? Am I helping others on their journeys too?

(3) How am I with God?
Have I grown closer to my Beloved or have I grown further apart? Have my activities done in His name distanced myself from Him? Have I learned more about my Lord? Do I appreciate Him for Himself as He has revealed to me or am I too engrossed with His gifts? Am I comfortable to being and resting in Him?

I am looking forward to my December Sabbath. Please pray for me as I enter it. Soli Deo Gloria.

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