Pressing Pause For Lent

I love the pause button.  I use it often as I listen or watch something interesting.  Sometimes I use it to   avoid distraction or interruption,  but often it’s to let what I’m experiencing sink in more deeply. I like to ponder and repeat what I’ve heard or seen. Lent is a season to examine and review.  It’s a time to ponder and reflect on what is getting in the way and needs to be let go.  It’s also a chance to take on something new in order to deepen a connection with our true self, God, and others. It’s a time to press pause!
“You may have heard the story about some westerners who hired a few bushmen guides to help them travel through the Kalahari Desert.  Not being used to moving at the pace their employers were expecting, the bushmen suddenly sat down to rest, and no amount of persuasion could induce them to continue the journey until they were ready.  The reason for this much needed rest, the bushmen explained, was that they had to wait for their souls to catch up. ...Indigenous peoples often have an innate awareness of the need to honor the natural pace and rhythm of their inner beings.  They seem to be able to pick up signals drawing them into a stance of obedient listening.  The bushman of the Kalahari call this ancient knowing ’the tapping of the heart.’” (Wiederkehr, Macrina. sevensacredpauses, Ave Maria Press, 2008). They know how to pause.  How might we develop a practice of pausing this Lent as invitation to deepen our relationship with God, our true self, and others?  
I’m thinking of 3 ways we might pause this Lent—mindful eating, speaking, and praying.  When was the last time you paused to give thanks before eating, giving thought to all who made this meal possible?  What difference does it make to pay attention to the food you eat, noticing with all your senses the various gifts it has to offer? Or, when was the last time you paused before speaking and gave thought to what you wanted to say, considering the reasons or emotions behind what you want to say?  Have you tried pausing long enough to ask God what might need to be said or invite God, Jesus, or the Holy Spirit into the conversation, especially if it’s getting heated; or the opposite, when talking has stopped and further conversation seems impossible?  Lastly, have you ever tried pause in prayer with God, letting thoughts, judgments, expectations and feelings pass for a bit and just be with God in silence.  Could there be gift and healing found there that is not possible in other forms of prayer?  That’s the claim in practices like Centering Prayer.  It’s in the letting go, the pausing, the being versus doing that allows for deep healing and connection with the One that is here, there and everywhere eagerly waiting to bestow ‘grace upon grace” (Jn 1:16b) on you and all creation. This Lent, will you join me in pressing pause in whatever way you can to discover the wonders found in doing so? Jesus says, “Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life.  I’ll show you how to take a real rest.  Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it.  Learn the unforced rhythms of grace.” (Mt. 11:28-29, MSG). Pausing with you, Pastor Dawn