Stations Journal Journey #33

Nov 23, 2025 

Yesterday was a rest day. I have noticed that rest days during this year are not simple blessings, nor easy. I tend to get grouchy. Yesterday I saw this pattern in me and wondered what it was about. I have observed that perhaps pausing the work button reminds me that it is all still there, just that I’m trying not to think about it. And also, that one day’s rest is not really enough. I just begin slowing down when the engine must rev up again. Which leaves me in a rather unsatisfactory place, thus I get grouchy.  Add to that the tasks of life that I often must attend to on such days and I begin to resent that the rest day did not unfold the way I intended.

When I descend into that inner struggle in a day that is supposed to be restful, it keeps me within my own individual self, in body, mind and Spirit. I am not finding rest because I am not taken beyond myself in a restful way.

I recently read this definition of sacred: “That which pulls us beyond the bounds of our individual selves, envelops us within mystery, and gives us a glimpse into the vast entwined, eternal network of living beings that we are in relationship with.”

I don’t always have a church service to attend on my day of rest, and that would pull me out of my own small self more easily. However, I did give myself a coffee date and walk with my husband. This was so needed and helpful. The conversation grounded me. And the wind and rain and fresh November air buffeted me about, literally kneading me like a massage, so my body remembered to breathe, and to look out. It reminded me that part of the rest needed is a pause from my own eyes and the way they process each day. I am not alone. I am simply part of an ecosystem. That is what I trust for this day.