“COME WITH ME TO A QUIET PLACE, AND GET SOME REST.” MARK 6:31
It's a frantic time of year.
If you can, find yourself somewhere quiet.
Sit down, just for five minutes.
Sit with Eddie Askew's thoughts.....
Lord, I’m tired.
Exhausted.
Sometimes I wonder how I find the strength.
So much to do, and so little time and energy.
And always one thing more,
nagging at the back of my mind like toothache.
Unwelcome, yet hard to ignore.
I buzz around, a frantic fly
battering the window-pane
until I fall exhausted to the sill.
All noise and movement, but so little done.
And in the effort to respond
to all the calls that others make
I find I’m losing touch with you.
The crowds get in between.
The more I do for you, the further off you seem.
A paradox, until I hear your voice,
not asking more of me
but telling me to find a breathing space,
a place to rest.
And in the quiet you are there.
No accusations,
and no suggestions that I could do more.
And as we sit together
I begin to realise that many of the demands I face
are self-imposed.
They’re mine.
Born out of ego and the guilt I feel when I can’t cope
comes from my pride, and not you.
When I’m faced with something
I just can’t find the energy to do,
give me the honesty to face the fact
that maybe
you’re not asking it of me.
Eddie Askew
