Walk With me on Our Journey: Finding rest and belonging at the same time

Dear Family of God (Love) and Pilgrims on our Journey,

I have returned home safely from the weekend retreat at Holy Spirit Retreat Center established by the Sisters of Social Service in Encino. This was my first time at this retreat center and found it deeply spiritual and refreshing. Yes, I could get rest too. I tried not to blog one night and it worked but I find rest doing it. The retreat was for the Women of St. Francis, from St. Francis of Assisi Episcopal Church Simi Valley. The theme was on Sabbath and finding Sacred Pause. We actually are doing a lot of this with the prayer walk. I had the opportunity to present and do a prayer walk with them this morning. It was peaceful and it connected us one to another and to nature or as we call it God's Cathedral of Life. It made our time of worship and Eucharist just that special. We all need to connect with God and get rest at the same time. Sabbath is so important for us because it helps us press the reset button. If you think of it this way e= energy and if we take out the second e in reset we get rest. Dialing down our energy will help us get rest. I felt again that sense of belonging. Because we are the Family of God that means we belong to God and are part of each other's families. I never thought about the fact that we can feel that sense of belonging when we rest. But we can. Oddly enough when we are at peace with in ourselves we can find peace with others and that holy sense of belonging. So this is my advice today. Rest, relax, refresh, and renew your bodies, minds, and spirits so that you can dial in and connect with God and our family. It really works ! Praying and resting help us to dial in and connect! Think about these songs from the Manhattan Transfer and Mavis Staples and enjoy! I would listen after the prayers.

Operator

Jesus on The Mainline - Mavis Staples

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Lord help us to spend Sabbath time so that we may connect with you our Creator and be your creation.
Beside the still waters we take our rest.

Lord as we rest beside your still waters may we feel the Holy Spirit renewing our spirits and remind us that we are human beings not human doings.

As we connect with you Lord may we reconnect with our family members all over the world and keep them in our hearts as we pray. Lord beside the still waters may we find each of us resting in your arms and finding peace with each other.

Lord God be with us as we become more intentional in making right choices when we have our times of Sabbath.

Lord God we pray for all those who cannot find times of Sabbath and rest. We pray for all those who work on Your Day of Rest. May we always be sensitive to those who cannot enjoy days off for rest, relaxation, and renewal for the refreshment of bodies, minds, and spirits.

We pray this night for the flooding in England and all the weather that has gone haywire throughout the world. We pray for all people who are affected and in danger due to severe and strange weather. We pray for rain here in your drought parched land.

We pray for sensitivity, empathy, and acceptance of all our family members who may not feel that sense of belonging only you can give through the loving actions of others.

We pray for all those who are ill and may need further examinations to find out what is wrong.

We pray for all who travel and for their safe return.

We pray for all parents and children who are being stressed out by unnecessary demands made on them by a get ahead society. We pray that they may find rest and reconnections as families and spouses.

We pray that we may find rest and renewal and may begin to come down from our mountain top or retreat experience with renewed intention and purpose to rest and take Sabbath time.

We pray for this night_________________________

We thank you Lord for all your many blessings remembering _____________________

We celebrate life, love, and times with all our family members and special times remembering________________

We offer special remembrances of family members who have entered to the place of heavenly joy and rest remembering_____________________

We pray that we may rest tonight in your loving arms and feel the Light of Christ Burning brightly in our spirits. All this we ask in Jesus most holy name. Amen.

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Dear family tomorrow, you will get your prayer cycle and mini walk. Remember to rest, relax, refresh, and renew and know that you are loved by God and me and all our family members and you belong.

Love and peace of mind and knowing at the core of my being that we belong to each other are bound together by God and His Love for us.

Love to you all ! Rest gentle dear ones!

Sara