{"id":11905,"date":"2016-06-25T14:55:34","date_gmt":"2016-06-25T18:55:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/pitmanumc.org\/wp\/?p=11905"},"modified":"2016-06-25T14:55:34","modified_gmt":"2016-06-25T18:55:34","slug":"rest-relaxand-rejuvenate","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pitmanumc.org\/wp\/?p=11905","title":{"rendered":"Rest, Relax,and Rejuvenate"},"content":{"rendered":"

Pastor Jim submitted the following thoughts for our July\/August edition\u00a0 of Steeple Notes (our church newsletter)…<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

Greetings Friends:<\/p>\n

Here’s an ancient a Greek legend that’s worth considering…<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\t
In ancient Athens a man noticed the great storyteller Aesop playing\u00a0 childish games with some little boys. He laughed and jeered at Aesop, asking him why he wasted his time in such frivolous \"Bow-arrow-297108_960_720activity. Aesop responded by picking up a bow, loosening its string, and\u00a0 placing it on the ground. <\/span><\/p>\n

Then he said to the critical Athenian, \u201cNow, answer the riddle, if you can. Tell us what the unstrung bows implies.<\/span><\/em>\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

The man looked at it for several moments but had no idea what point Aesop was trying to make. <\/span><\/p>\n

Aesop explained, \u201cIf you keep a bow always bent, it will break eventually; but if you let it go slack, it will be more fit for use when you want it.<\/span><\/em>\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p><\/div><\/div>\n

I suspect that many people are also like that man from ancient Athens. And yet, perhaps this old story can serve as a reminder to all of us about the importance of rest. We all need to take time to rest.<\/p>\n

In Mark 6:30 \u201332, Jesus instructs His disciples to doing something different, back away from the
\nnorm, and enter into a period of rest:<\/p>\n

\n

The apostles gathered around Jesus and reported to him all they had done and taught.\u00a0 Then, because so many people were coming and going that they did not even have a chance to eat, he said to them, “Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest.<\/span>”\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n

So they went away by themselves in a boat to a solitary place.<\/span>\u00a0\u00a0 NIV<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

In the Old Testament, God set a pattern for us as we read in Genesis 2:3,<\/p>\n

\n

\u201cThen God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done\u201d<\/span> (NIV).<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

 <\/p>\n

Shouldn\u2019t we take these examples seriously?\"LaPalmilla15<\/p>\n

We are entering the summer season, a season that affords opportunities for Rest, Relax & Rejuvenate rest and relaxation. Let\u2019s make it a priority to look for these moments that we can relax physically and renew ourselves emotionally and spiritually.<\/p>\n

These moments are gifts from God. Let\u2019s embrace the gift and \u201cloosen the bow\u201d this summer!<\/p>\n

Shalom,<\/em><\/span><\/h4>\n

Pastor Jim<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

We are entering the summer season, a season that affords opportunities for Rest, Relax & Rejuvenate rest and relaxation. Let\u2019s make it a priority to look for these moments that we can relax physically and renew ourselves emotionally and spiritually.<\/p>\n

These moments are gifts from God. Let\u2019s embrace the gift and \u201cloosen the bow\u201d this summer!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":11910,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[131],"tags":[146,136],"class_list":["post-11905","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-pastors-ponderings","tag-godsprovision","tag-priority"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pitmanumc.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11905","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pitmanumc.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pitmanumc.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pitmanumc.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pitmanumc.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=11905"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/pitmanumc.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11905\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11915,"href":"https:\/\/pitmanumc.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11905\/revisions\/11915"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pitmanumc.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/11910"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pitmanumc.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=11905"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pitmanumc.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=11905"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pitmanumc.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=11905"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}