A time when we deliberately slow down, reduce our service pattern and stop the many internal meetings and activities we do at other times of the year. Of course, lots of people are away and combining services amongst churches is a sensible thing to do, but there’s a deeper theological reason for embracing this special time of abiding and resting.
One of the hardest things in our busy lives is to slow down and stop things. ‘Deliberate non productivity’ doesn’t come easily to most of us. We like to be busy. It often helps us avoid things. And yet Jesus’ teaching suggests that we need a period of abiding or resting before we can be fruitful. I encourage you to embrace abiding time. It’s not a time of complete inactivity. We will worship together but perhaps we can also find time to meet one another, spend friendship time together, encourage one another, pray and open ourselves to God, so that the rest we receive allows us to move towards greater fruitfulness in the days ahead.