Writings of a Beholder 🌿 10.21.22
a weekly letter for those longing to slow down, seek still moments, and behold God’s presence with them in the everyday.
Weekly writings of a beholder 🌿
Leaving room for open, unfilled space
A few weeks ago, I connected with a new friend on Instagram, reminding me of the true blessing of communion that social media can be if we let it. We spent a few days messaging back and forth; her sharing part of her story and faith journey with me and mine with her.
Amidst our conversation, she shared with me an organization called Sacred Ordinary Days that offers a liturgical planner which follows the church calendar and focuses on the whole person; body, mind, soul, and spirit. The purpose of the planner is to help us as Christ-followers become who God created us to be by helping us cultivate a whole life; a life of prayer, work, rest, joy, and connection.
The planner creates space for you to incorporate different spiritual rhythms into your daily life, like A Rule of Life, the Examen, Sabbath, Breath Prayer, and Scripture reading.
This morning was the first morning that I truly had a chance to dive into my planner, and I can tell already that it is a God-send; a gift from the Lord to me in this season of rest that’s going to help me prioritize my soul care and spiritual formation over striving and goal setting.
There’s nothing wrong with goal setting and dreaming, in fact, I encourage you to do both with the Spirit. But for me in this season, I feel called to slow down, pause, and rest, and this liturgical planner is going to be a tool that helps me do just that.
As I sat down this morning to read through the beginning portion of my planner instructing me on how to use the daily pages and what the purpose of the planner is, I noticed a specific phrase that was repeated throughout and how it stirred something inside of me.
The phrase being used was ‘open or unfilled space’.
On the Sabbath pages that are at the end of every week, Jenn, the creator of the planner, explains that there is intentional unfilled, open space on each Sabbath page to rest the mind and eye while drawing our focus toward what is most important. Here, I’m free to journal, write out prayers, jot down reflections, or leave it blank.
I came across this same phrase, open space, again while reading about how to use the daily pages in the planner. Here, Jenn explains, "Use this space to make notes, keep track of habits, doodle, draw, or be reminded of the importance of making room for some unfilled space in your life.”
I don’t know about you, friend, but living with open, unfilled space in my days is a challenge for me. I tend to struggle with assigning my worth to my achievements and my productivity level. I easily fall into the lie that I have to work for my worth, and not from it.
But even as I write this, I hear the sweet, gentle sound of my Savior’s voice rise above the chaos of my own inner turmoil,
“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” (Matthew 11:28-30, NIV)
Jesus walked this earth with plenty of open, unfilled space, relying on His heavenly Father to fill it and He invites us all to do the same.
As I hear Him speak, I see Him extend the invitation for us to come and rest in the open, unfilled spaces of life. And not only that but to make intentional time for it. Because here in the middle of this helter-skelter life, God invites us to adopt a Sabbath heart attitude. One that causes us to pause, breathe a little deeper and slower, and taste the sweetness of joy that comes from being still in His gentle presence.
I shared on the blog this week that I am in a season of dormancy; of being alive, but temporarily inactive; of learning to rest and trust rather than strive and produce. And I think that a part of going dormant means creating intentional open space in my life where God can lead, speak, restore, heal, and make whole the parts of my soul that are weary and fragmented.
We’re a people who don’t like unfinished, unfilled things. We’re a people who like to see results; a generation that has grown accustomed to instant gratification and the closing of gaps.
But what if the gaps of life, the open and unfilled spaces in between moments and seasons, are where true beauty and lasting growth are found? What if the Spirit of God dwells there, too, right in the middle of all that’s exposed and wide open?
I’m leaving today for a guided silent spiritual retreat where myself, my husband, and a group of people I don’t yet know are going to rest in the Lord and in the silence of His presence together. Where we are going to arrive open and unfilled, with zero expectations, waiting to be filled back up again as we go where the Spirit leads.
I want to learn how to invite the unfilled spaces in my life and greet them at the door of my heart like a dear friend. My prayer is that in the open spaces of our days, we would find the Spirit of God there; an outpouring of love as we learn to unplug, let go, rest, and just be.
As we learn that our true worth is found in our own God-given Belovedness.
It’s in the unfilled, open spaces of our days that the slow filling of grace happens; where we are slowly and gradually formed and made whole again.
xo,
celia
A breath prayer for your weekend
breathe in:
May the open, unfilled spaces.
breathe out:
Be where I behold more of You, Abba.
*if you’d like to learn more about the practice of breath prayer, check out this blog post I wrote titled, How to Use Breath Prayer.
Resources & fun things to pick up
This week on the blog, I shared that I am in a dormant season; what that means for me, and what the Lord is asking me to pause in this season of life: Autumn: A Season of Dormancy
I linked it for you above, but in case you missed it, here is where you can check out the Sacred Ordinary Days liturgical planner.
Since we are on the topic of rest and practicing Sabbath, I’m reading an excellent book on the subject by Mark Buchanan called The Rest of God that I would highly encourage you to pick up.
Grab some helpful, beholding resources over on my Etsy shop, The Beholding Co. Available right now are some breath prayer cards, a spiral-bound journal, and a Lectio Divina Bible bookmark.
Grab a copy of my Bible study, You Are Beloved: a 21-day study on how to root your identity in the love of God, over on Amazon.
An invitation to pause & reflect
A regular practice of reflection helps us recognize what’s going on beneath the surface of our souls so that we can name it in the Lord’s presence. Because as we learn to name what we feel, what we need, and what we long for, we’re also learning to discern the Spirit’s sweet, gentle voice within our hearts and lives.
Take a few moments today or this weekend to journal or contemplate with the Holy Spirit the following question:
Where in your days or weeks can you intentionally carve out open, unfilled space for you to rest and listen for the Holy Spirit to speak?
xo,
celia
This is exactly what the Spirit is speaking to me about. I was part of a prayer gathering on the Evolving Faith community the other week and the leader read out a poem called "Fire" by Judy Brown. It talks about the space between the logs on a fire and how if we have too many logs packed in too tight it douses the flames and that we need to build our fires with spaces in between - open spaces so that oxygen can fuel the fire. It's an awesome metaphor and image of our lives. Then your awesome post pops into my email box this morning. Thanks!