stopping life

Have you ever had the sense of something like: "I'd sure like to stop life right now for a time," or, "Just let me get off this merry-go-round of life"?

We are so geared in our culture to "get at it" and "keep at it" and "be happy in that." I have to admit that more often than not I'm happy to get back into the regular grind of things. I seem outside of my element unless I'm pursuing my daily tasks however mundane they may seem to be. And that's not altogether bad, at all. I remember Brother Lawrence learning to praise God through the normal routine of things and practice the presence of God even through the clanging of the pans, etc.

There is a time to stop life in a sense, getting away from it in seeking to get into the presence of God or draw near to God. We can do this in a multiplicity of ways, but certain elements need to hold true. We should be at a place and time where we can focus in a fully engaged way on God. For me having my Bible and a notebook and pen to write down any thoughts, is important. To be still and turn away from distractions here, we keep working at. The effort itself is good, even if not fully successful, or at times, seeming largely to fail in this. This reminds me of Henri Nouwen's testimony of the time he was keeping before God.

Let's learn to savor these times of solitude and silence before God, times when our normal routines are interrupted and stopped. And maybe especially when we would be resistant to such times, knowing then that we are probably especially in need of this repose.

What have you learned or what thoughts do you have on this?