"Cease and Resist." (reading time - your call)

**I had a lot of thank-full responses to my Tuesday column about taking the time to take the time for pause; to feel life for a change. So, relax. Here's another dose.

“Many writers who choose to be active in the world lose not virtue but time

and that stillness, without which literature cannot be made.”
Gore Vidal

Mahatma Ghandi got it right when he said, “God has no religion.” And getting it (those God moments that give you pause, take your breath away or increase your breathing and heartbeat) is what I have been reflecting on since my friend shared the theme of the women’s retreat she just attended; “Ceasing and Feasting.” Call it what you want, I do not call these moments of discovery a “religious” experience; I think it is something much more profound and healthy. There’s a lot (tons, actually) to be said about stopping to find, hear, feel, see and relish the gulps of every “God (like) moment.” Note: Contrary to (some) popular opinion, this is not a proprietary experience reserved only for Christians (pick your favorite denomination “flavor”)…nor for that matter exclusively for Jews, Hindus, Muslims, Buddhists, Agnostics, Atheists (c’mon, you have to believe in something even if it is nothing), Plagiarists, Unitarians, Contrarians, Fruitarians, Scientologists, Astrologists or Paleontologists. It’s a bonus we humans seem to get; and I am not convinced, mind you, that other living things don’t get it, too. That’s ink mulch for another column.

So, in honor of the ladies from The Village Chapel (they rock) www.thevillagechapel.com here is what I offer for you today (do it right now) to consider in keeping with my column the other day about “Taking a walk” instead of taking another dose of A.D.D. (Always Doing Doing). It’s a syntax and language we might all benefit from adding to the vocabulary of our living words:

A Vocabulary of Non-Rest

1. Always: A statement of inflexibility
2. Anxious: Misspent energy
3. Bigger: A challenge to contentment
4. Control: A state of being the misses out on surprise
5. Faster: The speed of striving
6. Hurry: The pace of life that neglects wellness
7. Instant Gratification: The sacrifice of the valuable for the available
8. More: The place just past enough
9. Never: A barrier to dreaming
10. Worry: A chronic condition of needing to be in control
11. Yes: Sacrifice the important for the urgent

A Vocabulary of Rest

1. Balance: The right amount of this and that, of work and rest, of ceasing and feasting
2. Bounty: Seeing the most in what you already have
3. Enough: Choosing contentment
4. Invest: Spending time on what is important rather than what is urgent
5. Linger: Sitting in the moment
6. Nap: A shameless act of refreshmen
7. Pay Attention: Reveling in the in the mysteries of creation
8. Play: Activity that does not contribute to the gross national product
9. Quiet: Stilling the noises of life
10. Surrender: Trusting that if you slow down you won’’ miss anything important
11. Trust: Relinquishing control
12. No: A discerning refusal of busyness

Now, repeat after me: “Cease and Resist.”

For emphasis.

(b)