One of the consistent messages of the Platinum Jubilee celebrations has been about the Queen’s service and stability. Thrust into the responsibilities of monarchy aged just 25, she has been, it seems to me, equipped to serve in a way that no other Queen or King has been.
She has also been a source of stability despite the various meanderings of her 14 prime ministers (over 170 across the world) and 7 Archbishops of Canterbury, amidst times of war, peace, pandemic, Brexit and numerous other events and difficulties, let alone those she has faced within her own family.
While my years are not quite as many as her reign (and not unlike the Queen and Paddington Bear, I have been known to have a marmalade sandwich in case of emergencies), this particular blog post does mark its own moment in time for this particular author. For it is the 100th such entry.
Through WORK. REST. PRAY. I have aimed to offer reflections on how faith relates to those three important aspects of our lives and also to our wellbeing, sense of identity and self-worth – added to which have been some films and images and stories to further explore different facets of human life.
The three guiding principles have been based upon the facts that:
- WORK is not just paid employment
- REST is sometimes elusive, occasionally enforced but rarely intentional
- To PRAY is to underpin all those activities.
Looking back over the last three and half years or so, while I have wandered ‘off script’ in a few of these ramblings, I was struck by the figures for this website which showed that the most read of those 100 posts are…
It also strikes me that they perhaps reflect, in a small way, what many people are looking for today. (Maybe click on the links and reflect on them for yourself for a bit – and feel free to post your thoughts on Facebook or drop me an email or message me through Twitter.)
In what ways has God equipped you for service through providing the tools in the toolbox? In what ways do you seek out times of rest and relaxation? What brings stability in your life? How do they all influence your sense of calling and service?
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