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Now there was a man named Joseph, a member of the Council, a good and upright man, who had not consented to their decision and action.  He came from the Judean town of Arimathea and he was waiting for the kingdom of God.

Going to Pilate, he asked for Jesus’ body.  Then he took it down, wrapped it in linen cloth and placed it in a tomb cut in the rock, one in which no one had yet been laid.  It was Preparation Day, and the Sabbath was about to begin.

The women who had come with Jesus from Galilee followed Joseph and saw the tomb and how his body was laid in it.  Then they went home and prepared spices and perfumes.  But they rested on the Sabbath in obedience to the commandment.

Luke 23:50-56

The Twilight Hour

This is the evening prayer, prayed for centuries at the end of the workday.  The main themes are gratitude and serenity as the evening lamps are lit.  We invite God’s peace as we leave work and transition into dinner, family, home, rest.

A major theme of Vespers is gratitude…We say, “thank You” for hands to labor and love with, and ask for grace for the work of the approaching evening.

I will extol the LORD at all times;

His praise will always be on my lips.

Those who look to him are radiant;

Their faces are never covered with shame;

Taste and see that the LORD is good;

Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him.

Come, my children, listen to me;

I will teach you the fear of the LORD.

Psalm 34:1, 5, 8, 11

Well, Shabbat meal didn’t go as planned.  For starters, I didn’t get the crock pot going in enough time.  The boys might have eaten peanut butter sandwiches.  

Second, I didn’t prepare other stuff enough before hand.  You know when they say the women were busy making preparations for the Sabbath in Scripture?  That ain’t no joke.  And I don’t have to grind my own wheat (well, if I do it’s with a coffee grinder) or go to the well for water!  Hat tip to all women who lived in other time periods (if you’re reading this).

So there I was working when we weren’t supposed to be working.  Clinging to the fact that Jesus said Sabbath was created for man, not man for the Sabbath, I moved into it with the spirit of the command, not the letter.
I plan to be much more prepared next Saturday.  I’ve done some research but cannot interview my friends until next week, so I will put it all out there together then.  
In the meantime, here are photos from our first few days of Stress Month:

The other day when it started out decently warm then turned super chilly, I told Caleb to grab something to keep him warm at preschool recess.  This was his choice.  Flip flops, one glove and a robber mask.  I’m not sure what Ms Abby thinks of our family.

Toothless friend love

Mum’s the word.

Eating breakfast on the driveway on one of our (stinking chilly) mornings watching the sun come up.

My friend taking over our kitchen to make authentic tacos.  All I had to do in exchange was count all the Box Tops for our entire school. (Okay, just 5 or so classes.)

The boys working hard before hard work had to cease last night for Shabbat.
Have you had a nice first few days of October?  

The Wisdom Hour (mid-afternoon)

“The Wisdom Hour embraces…the impermanence of this life.  It is the hour Jesus died and gave up His spirit (Mark 15:34).

This hour is the prayer for wisdom to help us live like we’re dying, which we are.  Imagine the fearlessness we’d embrace with this understanding.  Imagine the risks we would take, the love we would share, the forgiveness we would not withhold, the dreams we would chase.  With evening approaching, we pray for perspective on this short, fleeting life…and offer our gifts to the world, understanding we only have a few years to share them.”

In you, O LORD, I have taken refuge;

Let me never be put to shame…

Be my rock of refuge,

To which I can always go…

My mouth will tell of your righteousness,

Of your salvation all day long,

Though I know not its measure…

Since my youth, O God, you have taught me,

And to this day I declare your marvelous deeds.

Psalm 71:1, 3, 15, 17

I’ve been thinking about Pilate.

Mostly because a friend and I talked yesterday and she mentioned some decisions she regrets in her younger years in following the crowd.  Wanting to fit in.  Being mean to others for that to happen.

The list of things I’ve done to please the crowd is…well…long.

Anyway, I looked up the other 3 accounts of Pilate this morning.  It makes for an interesting character sketch.  And he makes me sad.

When [Jesus] was accused by the chief priests and the elders, he gave no answer.  Then Pilate asked him,

“Don’t you hear the testimony they are bringing against you?”

But Jesus made no reply, not even to a single charge – to the great amazement of the governor…

When Pilate was sitting on the judge’s seat, his wife sent him this message:

“Don’t have anything to do with that innocent man, for I have suffered a great deal today in a dream because of him…”

When Pilate saw that he was getting nowhere [with the crowd], but instead that an uproar was starting, he took water and washed his hands in front of the crowd.

“I am innocent of this man’s blood,” he said.  “It is your responsibility!”

…Then he released Barabbas to them.  But he had Jesus flogged, and handed him over to be crucified…  (Matt. 27:12-26)

“Are you the king of the Jews?” asked Pilate.

“Yes, it is as you say,” Jesus replied.

The chief priests accused him of many things.  So again Pilate asked him,

“Aren’t you going to answer?  See how many things they are accusing you of.”

But Jesus still made no reply, and Pilate was amazed…

“What shall I do, then, with the one you call the king of the Jews?” Pilate asked them.

“Crucify him!” they shouted.

“Why?  What crime has he committed?” asked Pilate.

But they shouted all the louder,

“Crucify him!”

Wanting to satisfy the crowd, Pilate released Barabbas to them.  He had Jesus flogged, and handed him over to be crucified.   (Mark 15:2-15)

Pilate…summoned Jesus and asked him,

“Are you the king of the Jews?”

“Is that your own idea,” Jesus asked, “or did others talk to you about me?”

“Am I a Jew?”  Pilate replied.  “It was your people and your chief priests who handed you over to me.  What is it you have done?”

Jesus said, “My kingdom is not of this world.  If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jews.  But now my kingdom is from another place.”

“You are a king then!”  asked Pilate.

Jesus answered, “You are right in saying I am a king.  In fact, for this reason I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth.  Everyone on the side of truth listens to me.”

“What is truth?” Pilate asked…

When Jesus came out wearing the crown of thorns and purple robe, Pilate said to them,

“Here is the man!”

As soon as the chief priests and their officials saw him, they shouted,

“Crucify!  Crucify!”

But Pilate answered,

“You take him and crucify him.  As for me, I find no basis for a charge against him.”

The Jews insisted, “We have a law, and according to that law he must die, because he claimed to be the Son of God.”

When Pilate heard this, he was even more afraid, and he went back inside the palace.

“Where do you come from?” he asked Jesus, but Jesus gave him no answer.

“Do you refuse to speak to me?”  Pilate said.  “Don’t you realize I have power either to free you or to crucify you?”

Jesus answered,

“You would have no power over me if it were not given to you from above.  Therefore the one who handed me over to you is guilty of a greater sin.”

From then on, Pilate tried to set Jesus free, but the Jews kept shouting, “If you let this man go, you are no friend of Ceasar…”

“Shall I crucify your king?” Pilate asked.

“We have no king but Ceasar,” the chief priests answered. {Incidentally, Hmmmm…}

Finally, Pilate handed him over to them to be crucified.  (John 18:33-19:16)

I wash my hands of this man’s blood…


Wanting to satisfy the crowd…


What is truth?


He was even more afraid…


From them on, Pilate tried to set Jesus free…


Finally, Pilate handed Jesus over to be crucified.

Do you think Pilate thought of Jesus often after this?  What do you think was going through his mind when later the sun went dark, the earth quaked, and curtain in the temple was torn in two?

Do you think, like the Roman centurion, he exclaimed, “Surely he was the Son of God!”

Do you think he fell on his face in fear before the Most High?

What about later when he heard the stone had been rolled away and the Body had disappeared?

This same friend yesterday mentioned someone she knows who is saying no to many things so she can make sure the people most important in her life feel the most important.  That is hard to pull off. There is so much pressure to please the crowd.  It takes focus on Him and what He is asking us to do just to overcome the pull.

What have you done to please the crowd?

Do you agree we “become a bond slave to whomever we try to please”?

There is no condemnation here.  Only a deep desire to no longer regret hurting Him or others in my desire to fit in.

The Hour of Illumination (noon)

“At midday, we honor the hour Jesus embraced the cross…Like Him, we recommit to giving our lives away…

We self-inspect our hearts for violence we harbor – toward ourselves, family members, coworkers, community, those who are different.  We offer our hands and words as agents of justice.

(By all means, enjoy this pause outside with your face turned toward the sun.)”

A few weeks back, our pastor talked about laying our Isaac down.  He said for him, it is more than a one-time thing.  Rather, all day long, if he looks down and sees his hands clenched, he opens them.  Over and over.

That’s a great explanation for giving our lives away.  Releasing control.  Letting go of violence.  Offering the short puff of air that our lives are to Him for His purposes.

“Who may ascend the hill of the LORD?

Who may stand in his holy place?

He who has clean hands and a pure heart,

Who does not lift up his soul to an idol

Or swear by what is false…

Who is this King of glory?

The LORD strong and mighty,

The LORD mighty in battle.”

Psalm 24:3-4, 8

Pilate called together the chief priests, the rulers and the people, and said to them,

“You brought me this man as one who was inciting the people to rebellion.  I have examined him in your presence and have found no basis for your charges against him.  Neither has Herod, for he sent him back to us; as you can see, he has done nothing to deserve death.  Therefore, I will punish him and then release him.”

With one voice they cried out,

“Away with this man!  Release Barabbas to us!”

(Barabbas had been thrown into prison for an insurrection in the city, and for murder.)

Wanting to release Jesus, Pilate appealed to them again.  But they kept shouting,

“Crucify him!  Crucify him!”

For the third time he spoke to them:

“Why?  What crime has this man committed?  I have found in him no grounds for the death penalty.  Therefore I will have him punished and then release him.”

But with loud shouts they insistently demanded that he be crucified, and their shouts prevailed.

So Pilate decided to grant their demand.

He released the man who had been thrown into prison for insurrection and murder, the one they asked for, and surrendered Jesus to their will.”

Luke 23:13-25

Not to their will.  His will.

Pleasing the crowd is never a good idea.

I find it fascinating that Luke includes “for the third time.”  Many threes involved in the death and resurrection of Christ.

The Blessing Hour (mid-morning)

“This pause has two emphases: the first is mindfulness of the Spirit’s abiding presence…At this hour, the opportunities are still endless, making it the perfect time to invite the Spirit.  This pause can redirect our morning from ‘efficient’ to ‘inspired,’ before the day gets away.

Second, the Blessing Hour is about the sacredness of our work.  Whatever our work looks like – an office, raising children, working from home, a classroom, ministry – we ask the Spirit to bless us with creativity, composure, inspiration, love.”

I experienced this pause with a friend yesterday and my youngest this morning.  I love turning our attention to inspired “before the day gets away.”

Yes, let’s do that.

Let’s follow His lead throughout our days.

If you’re curious, I’m interested in doing a traditional Shabbat meal Saturday night.  I reread the Stress section of The 7 Experiment, took a few notes, and have put it away.

I want to do my own research on the topic.

I want to see what the Word has to say about the Sabbath and why it matters.  I want to Google some ideas about it.  I want to talk to the professor that comes to my Fall Avoidance class who was raised in an orthodox Jewish home.  I want to hear what Shabbat meant to their family.  I want to reread the actual 7 book and copy re-frame her experiences for our family culture.

I’m excited about this.  I want to welcome real rest from sundown to sundown each week and teach our children the rat race isn’t the point.

“…Because so many people were coming and going that they did not even have a chance to eat, [Jesus] said to them,

‘Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest.'”

Mark 6:31

Then the whole assembly rose and led [Jesus] off to Pilate.

And they began to accuse him, saying,

“We have found this man subverting our nation.  He opposes payment of taxes to Caesar and claims to be Christ, a king.”

So Pilate asked Jesus,

“Are you the king of the Jews?”

“Yes, it is as you say,”  Jesus replied.

Then Pilate announced to the chief priests and the crowd,

“I find no basis for a charge against this man.”

But they insisted,

“He stirs up the people all over Judea by his teaching.  He started in Galilee and has come all the way here.”

On hearing this, Pilate asked if the man was Galilean.  When he learned that Jesus was under Herod’s jurisdiction, he sent him to Herod, who was also in Jerusalem at that time.

When Herod saw Jesus, he was greatly pleased, because for a long time he had been wanting to see him.  From what he had heard about him, he hoped to see him perform some miracle.

He plied him with many questions, but Jesus gave him no answer.

The chief priests and the teachers of the law were standing there, vehemently accusing him.  Then Herod and his soldiers ridiculed and mocked him.  Dressing him in an elegant robe, they sent him back to Pilate.

That day Herod and Pilate became friends – before this they had been enemies.

Luke 23:1-12

Struck by what He endured this morning.  Want to give Him all the love and praise He let be taken from Him when He came to earth.

Source

Have you ever walked into someone’s home and experienced peace?

I have.  That’s how I want to live.

I know it has little to do with the surroundings (though the above, along with a cup of coffee and some books, looks like a little slice of heaven) and so much more to do with the culture and attitude of those in the home.

What are your favorite things about the most peaceful home you can think of?  What are the qualities you admire in others you consider at peace?

My favorite people are not trying to hide their imperfections.  They are comfortable with who they are.  I can borrow from their serenity and feel comfortable being myself, too.

And homes/families I’m drawn to aren’t what might typically be considered peaceful.  There is activity.  There are people in and out and hobbies and food and celebration and tears.

In a word, life.

Peace doesn’t mean no activity, no real emotions, never any drama.  But submission.  Submission to the One in control of all that.  Not seeking to reign in all the crazy on our own strength.

Source

In case you were concerned, my husband came to the rescue last night on the phone alarm thing.  He got it all figured out for me.

We chatted about the things on my list as well, and decided we want to work on helping the boys wind down before bedtime.  Often that routine goes out the window in favor of wrestling or a video or (in warmer months) riding bikes or playing with neighbor kids right up until showers.  So if we took a little more time to chill and maybe do more reading, the drama could lessen.  Then again, Fun is an unspoken priority in our home, so we may just need a little more balance.

Another thing we want to work on is a chore chart for our kids.  We really are not good at consistency in chores (or allowance for our oldest for that matter – though he rarely remembers to ask for it, anyway, which I consider a success.  Money shmoney).

Anyone out there have experience with a great chore chart system?  If it is simple and visible I’m all ears!

We have some financial goals, but in the words of my somewhat more private husband, “You’re not going to put this on the internet, are you?”  He is a saint.

I’m also halfway done with my Calendar/Goal center.  This is so exciting I’m not sure what to do.
Now for consistency in keeping up with it…

If you’re nosy like me and want to know the categories, they are:

1.  Calendars

2.  3 month goals for family/home, ministry, fitness and writing

3.  Character traits I want in front of my face constantly

4.  Pinterest recipes to try in the next few months

5.  Workout class ideas to learn

6.  Things to further investigate

Been going well with the 7 Sacred Pauses, but then again we’re only 3 pauses into this journey!

I thought I would share the first one, straight out of The 7 Experiment:

1.  The Awakening Hour (dawn)

It’s time to begin our day in glory…Do we need to awaken to joy?  Forgiveness?  We enter a new day where our lives can become a living praise.

The boys and I rode bikes and scooters and they drew in their notebooks outside this morning until we saw this:

They are starting to want to do this on their own initiative; go out and watch the morning dawn.  (It’s easier when that happens closer to 7:00!)

A couple we learned from overseas had heard a great prayer they passed along to us: “Jesus, help our lives draw our children to the Banqueting Table of Your Love.”

I love that.  Not preaching (though there are times for that).  Not pressuring.  Just drawing them to His love.  I hope the glory of the morning always does that for their hearts.

Do you need to reduce any stress in the morning hours?