April 7 – Rest

A rest is an empty space surrounded by busyness. All the other space is full of something, so the rest has to be marked. Its place needs to be reserved – for nothing.

And often, I notice, in singing, we want to jump into the rest and fill it with our voices. It just seems like it doesn’t belong there, sometimes. Like it’s asking too much of us, to stop and wait. This is especially true if there is a full measure of rest. We have the urge to jump in prematurely and end the rest.

I was once at a piano performance where the pianist told us, “This piece I am going to play has several points which sound like an ending. But it won’t be the ending, so be careful. Pay attention.” He didn’t want us to break out in applause in the middle of what was actually a rest.

It might be uncomfortable for us because it sticks out. But by its emptiness, the absence of sound, the rest helps give the music its shape, its beauty, its meaning.

This is the same as the idea behind sabbath. If everything stops on the seventh day, it gives shape to the week. You know that once the 24-hour period is over, the rhythm of the week begins again, but refreshed – a new beginning.

And in the rest, the sabbath, the quiet, we know what is in the absence. In the absence of our singing is the quiet. In the absence of our work is our rest in God; the absence of our industry reveals the foundation of our being, and there is God.

So pay attention. Listen to the silence. Attend to the absence of your industry – and refrain from filling it with someone else’s industry. Let it be a time to witness and appreciate the handiwork of our God.

Eternal God, our beginning and our end, be our starting point and our haven, and accompany us on this day’s journey. Amen.