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The Pause that Refreshes

Originally published Tuesday, 01 September 2015.

"The Pause that refreshes". A marketing slogan for Coca-Cola in the 1920's with wisdom for us today in the 21st Century. In the busyness of our days we should apply the same. Not so much the reaching for the carbonated soft drink but the pausing. The taking time, taking moments to pause, to let your soul breathe.

Maybe, just maybe it's as simple as pausing and listening to the birds when collecting the mail. Maybe in the rush of the morning it's taking your littlest for a coffee for you and a gingerbread man for him before his preschool starts. Or it's actually drinking the cup of tea that you brewed instead of allowing it to go cold as you send that important email or put on the next load of washing right then and there.

Learning to pause allows space to be, to breathe. Wayne Muller in his book "Sabbath" writes about a South American Tribe that would go on a march that would last days, when all of a sudden they would stop walking, sit down and rest for a couple of days. Their explanation - "they needed the time of rest so that their souls could catch up with them."

Has you life been marching for too long without a rest? A pause? An opportunity for refreshment? The taking of time so perhaps a soul can catch up?
 
"The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing. He makes me lie down in green pastures, He leads me beside quiet waters, He refreshes my soul."

(Psalm 23:1-2)
 

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