Pondering: Unexpected Benefits of Sabbath Rest #1

This is the first in an occasional series on the unexpected benefits of a life that includes regular, intentional, contemplative, Christ-centered rest.

When do we ponder? Maybe a better question is, do we ponder at all?

Scripture couldn’t be clearer about the value of pondering. In Luke 2, Mary reacted to the events surrounding the birth of Jesus by “pondering them in her heart.” The father’s wise counsel to his son in Proverbs 4 includes the instruction to “ponder the path of your feet.” In Psalm 143, King David responded to a season of despair and distress with a commitment to “ponder the work of Your hands,” and sees it as a synonym of “remember” and “meditate.”

Pondering is obviously a good thing.  It matters. It is good for us. But has it been squeezed out of our busy 21^stcentury lives?

Our lives are noisy. The phrase “surround sound,” originally coined as a marketing tool to sell high-tech home theatres, accurately describes most of our daily experience. Screens constantly bombard us with noise, often simultaneously in multiple rooms of our houses. The car radio can fill our travel time with songs or podcasts curated specifically for our tastes. Our phones loudly notify us when anyone, anywhere, wants a piece of us.

Pondering demands quiet, which tends to be in short supply these days. As a result, pondering has become a lost art. 

I had no idea how much I would enjoy pondering when we became sabbath-observant in 2011. Like a man who has never stood in awe on the rim of the Grand Canyon, or tasted a warm chocolate-almond croissant in a French bakery, I didn’t know what I was missing. As a result, I didn’t really miss it. Pondering snuck into my life in the quiet of rest, and stunned me with its beauty. It’s now one of my favorite spiritual disciplines.

One example jumps to mind.  On a Sabbath hike above Flagstaff a few years ago, while listening to my Sabbath worship playlist on Spotify, I heard a song that mentioned gratitude for the ways God shapes us through others. I stopped the song and thanked God for the people who had shaped me over the years.  But that didn’t seem specific enough in the moment.

I decided to reflect back on my Christian life in 5-year segments, starting with my decision to follow Jesus in 1969. I asked the Lord to bring to mind the names and faces of people who had impacted me significantly in each season, so I could thank Him for using them to shape me. That prayerful trip down memory lane lasted more than a half hour, and was rich in nostalgia and gratitude.  It was unexpectedly delightful to focus on the “crowd of witnesses” (Hebrews 12:1) who had surrounded me and cheered on my growth over the decades. It ended with a request that I would live in such a way that I might appear on a similar list for others.

I never would have made time for such an unforgettable moment before we committed ourselves to rest. In seeking quiet on a regular basis, I’m far more open to spiritual practices that require silence in order to blossom and do their work.

The art of pondering is at the top of my list of unexpected benefits of Sabbath rest. Let me know if you’d like to talk about ways it might sneak into your life.  I’m glad it has become normal in mine.

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