Hello friends,
This is Mark Gladman,
Also known as Brother Frederick James,
Your friendly neighbourhood monk in dogs.
Welcome back to our special series of teaching and reflections.
On Sabbath.
And what it might mean in our modern life.
Now today,
We'll spend some time reflecting on our first Hebrew word connected to the spirit of Sabbath.
And that word is,
Selah.
Selah is a word that's found in so many different places.
Throughout the Book of Psalms.
You'll see it in the middle of Psalms,
At the beginning of Psalms sometimes,
At the end of Psalms.
It's actually not.
A part of the psalm technically.
It's one of those mysterious words that scholars still debate.
No one's entirely certain what it means.
But many believe it was a musical or liturgical instruction.
So like a rest in music,
It's kind of like a pause,
A moment where the singer stopped.
But the instruments continued and the people listened.
So it's kind of like a sacred interruption,
A deliberate slowing down.
A space created for reflection.
And some have actually suggested Selah may carry the sense of stop and listen.
Not just to the music that might continue,
But to the words that you have just sung.
And maybe.
.
.
That's exactly what many of us need the most.
Because we've got so much information.
Coming across us every single day.
Words and images and opinions and headlines and videos and billboards and notifications and messages and podcasts and posts and news and updates and advertisements and an endless stream of content and visual bombardment and audio bombardment Our minds and hearts and eyes and ears are crowded.
And because everything moves so quickly.
Very seldom do we pause long enough for any of it.
To settle deeply within us.
We move from one thing to the next,
One thought to the next,
One distraction to the next.
But we need to remember that information doesn't transform us.
Information that's never truly absorbed just passes straight through us.
We need to remember that wisdom requires space,
That reflection requires slowness,
That transformation requires attentiveness.
And so maybe the invitation of this word,
Selah,
Is into something that our culture's almost forgotten,
The practice of pausing.
The practice of stopping long enough to truly listen.
Not just hearing words,
But receiving them.
Not just consuming life.
But allowing life to touch us deeply.
And maybe this is one of the first gifts of Sabbath.
Spice.
Breathing room for the soul,
Slowing down long enough to notice what's happening within.
So for a few moments now.
I want to invite you simply into the spirit of Selah.
Take a nice big breath.
Just settle into this moment.
And just simply listen.
I notice you breathing.
Notice the sounds around you.
Notice your body resting where you are.
And ask yourself gently,
When was the last time I truly stopped?
When was the last time?
I allowed silence to exist.
Without immediately trying to fill it.
What truths have I heard recently?
That I've never really allowed myself to absorb.
What beauty.
Have I rushed past.
What might God be trying to say beneath all the noise?
Saila.
Stop.
Listen.
Receive.
Maybe Sabbath begins there.
With that willingness to pause long enough.
To become present again.
Present to yourself.
Present to life.
Present to this moment.
Present to God.
I'm sure you're very familiar with the words of the psalmist in Psalm 46.
10 where it's written,
Be still and know that I am God.
Remembering that stillness is an emptiness.
It's attentiveness.
And maybe.
.
.
Many of us aren't lacking truth so much as we're lacking the space needed for truth to sink deeply into our lives.
And so Selah reminds us that wisdom grows slowly,
Peace grows slowly,
Awareness grows slowly,
And the soul often speaks most clearly in moments.
We stop trying to force everything forward.
So today.
.
.
I invite you to pause more often.
Create even small moments of stillness,
Leaving room for silence.
Allowing yourself to stop long enough to listen,
Not just to God.
But to your own soul as well.
Sayla.
That's pride.
Goddess stillness.
We confess that our lives are often crowded with noise.
Our minds are restless,
Our attentions scattered,
Our hearts hurried.
Teach us how to pause.
How to listen.
Help us slow down enough to notice your presence already surrounding us.
Give us courage to embrace silence without fear.
To rest without guilt and to stop without anxiety.
And in the quiet spaces may wisdom begin to settle within us.
May truth sink deeply into our hearts.
May peace grow gently within our souls.
Teach us the sacred rhythm of Selah,
The rhythm of stopping.
Listening.
Receiving and resting in you.
And may grace,
Peace and love be with us and remain with us today and always.
Amen.
Until tomorrow,
My friend.
May grace,
Peace be with you.
Sela.
