Hello friends,
This is Mark Gladman,
Also known as Brother Frederick James,
Your friendly neighbourhood monk in docks.
Welcome to another session in our series of contemplating what it means to truly find Sabbath rest by focusing in on particular Hebrew words.
That take us deeper.
Into what it means to rest in God.
And today.
We've come to perhaps the most difficult word yet.
In this series.
And perhaps because it's difficult.
It may also be one of the most important.
And so with that in mind,
I just invite you to still yourself.
To take a deep breath in.
To bring yourself fully into this moment.
And open your heart to hear from the Spirit what it is.
That you need to glean from our reflection on this Hebrew word today.
And the word is Rapha.
Now,
Rafa has found quite often in the book of Psalms and most English translations render this word simply as still.
In fact,
It's the word that's used in the familiar words of Psalm 46,
Verse 10,
Be still and know that I am God,
Be rafar and know that I am God.
The Hebrew beneath these words.
Carries far more depth.
Than just being quiet alone.
Rafah means to let go.
To loosen one's grip,
To relax.
To become weak,
Even to sink or fall helplessly.
And if we're being completely honest.
.
.
That idea to a lot of us can feel absolutely frightening.
Because our instinct,
Especially in difficult times,
Is usually the opposite,
We tighten our grip,
We brace ourselves,
We fight harder,
We cling to try and maintain some sort of sense of control.
When life becomes uncertain,
When grief arrives,
When anxiety rises,
When relationships fracture.
When the future feels clear,
We literally hold on for dear life.
And maybe that makes sense because letting go can feel kind of dangerous.
And quite often people just bandy this round like it's easy with catch cries like,
Let go and let God.
But while it's easy to say deep down.
It feels almost impossible a lot of the time.
And that's because somewhere inside.
.
.
It feels like maybe loosening our grip.
Might mean falling apart.
Like standing on the edge of something unknown with no certainty about what happens if we release control.
And yeah,
I'll guarantee there's moments in life when we slowly begin to realize something that's very difficult,
That our own strength can't carry us forever.
That there are situations that we just can't fix,
That there are burdens that we just can't carry and outcomes that we just can't control.
And sometimes the deepest peace comes not from gripping harder.
But from surrendering,
From allowing ourselves to fall into the mercy of God.
Of God.
In one of his epistles,
The Apostle Paul writes,
Listen to that again,
For power is made perfect.
In weakness.
That's not how we usually imagine strength.
We imagine strength as control,
Certainty,
Holding everything together,
But scripture often reveals another kind of strength,
The strength of surrender,
The strength of trust.
The strength of finally admitting that I can't carry this alone,
And maybe.
.
.
That's part of what RAFAR invites us into.
Not just resignation and giving up on life,
But realizing.
The illusion and releasing it.
The illusion that we must hold everything together.
Through our own effort.
So,
For a few moments now.
I want to invite you into the experience of Roffa.
So just settle yourself again.
Take a deep breath in.
And out.
And as you do,
Just notice your body.
Notice where you might be carrying tensions,
Maybe in your shoulders,
Your jaw,
Your chest,
Your stomach.
Just notice.
Now take a slow,
Deep breath in and as you exhale,
Imagine loosening your grip slightly.
Just loosening.
What are you holding onto right now with fear?
What burden are you trying to carry entirely by yourself?
What would it feel like even briefly?
To stop fighting.
To stop clenching.
To stop trying to force some sort of certainty into the situation.
Rafa,
Be still,
Let go,
Relax your grip.
Allow yourself to rest in something larger than your own strength.
Imagine yourself no longer climbing,
No longer striving,
No longer desperately trying to pull yourself upward through sheer effort alone.
Instead,
Imagine falling gently into the presence of God.
Remember it's not some deep void of emptiness or abandonment.
But you're falling into mercy,
Into grace.
Into love that can hold what you can't.
And maybe this is one of the deepest forms of Sabbath.
Not just resting the body,
But allowing the soul to stop striving for control.
Allowing ourselves to become vulnerable enough to trust.
Because sometimes peace doesn't arrive when life becomes manageable.
Sometimes peace arrives when we finally stop trying to manage everything ourselves.
And maybe that's your invitation today to loosen your grip a little.
To breathe.
To surrender what you can't carry,
To trust that even in weakness,
You are being held.
Rafa,
Be still.
And now.
Let us prank.
God of mercy,
You know how tightly we cling.
You know our fears,
Our anxieties,
Our exhaustion.
And our longing to hold everything together.
Teach us the sacred stillness of Rafah.
To teach us how to loosen our grip.
Teach us how to surrender what we can't control.
Teach us how to trust you in moments where we feel weak and uncertain.
When we're tired from striving,
Help us rest.
When we're afraid of falling,
Remind us that your love can hold us.
When we feel overwhelmed by life.
Quiet the storm within us and in the places where our own strength reaches its limit.
May we discover the deeper strength of grace.
Help us become still enough to know your presence,
To trust your goodness,
And to rest in your care.
And may grace,
Peace and love go with us and remain with us today and always.
Until next time,
Friends.
Peace be with you.
Bye for now.
