The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.
I want to suggest to you today that one practice that helps cultivate a “divine attentiveness” we talked about in the last devotional is leisure. What do I mean by leisure. Josef Pieper in his book “Leisure, The Basis of Culture” describes leisure this way:
“Leisure is not the inevitable result of spare time, a holiday, weekend or a vacation. It is, in the first place, an attitude of mind, a condition of the soul…Leisure implies…an attitude of non-activity, of inward calm, of silence, it means not being “busy”, but letting things happen.
Leisure is a form of silence, of that silence which is the prerequisite of the apprehension of reality: only the silent hear and those who do not remain silent do not hear. Silence, as it is used in this context, does not mean “dumbness” or “noiselessness”’ it means more nearly that the soul’s power to “answer” to the reality of the world is left undisturbed. For leisure is a receptive attitude of mind, a contemplative attitude, and it is not only the occasion but also the capacity for steeping oneself in the whole of creation.
Leisure is not the attitude of mind of those who actively intervene, but of those who are open to everything; not of those who grab and grab hold, but of those who leave the reins loose and who are free and easy themselves-almost like someone falling asleep, for one can only fall asleep by “letting oneself go.”…When we really let our minds rest contemplatively on a rose in bud, on a child at play, on a divine mystery, we are rested and quickened as though by a dreamless sleep…It is in these silent receptive moments that the soul of mankind is sometimes visited by an awareness of what holds the world together.”
Let’s develop a more leisurely mindset that might just give us a greater awareness of what (who?) holds the world together!
Pastor Cam
