Have you ever spent a day at a spa? Or a morning or afternoon? It’s very popularity, I think, is that it provides a legitimate slow-down, a break from the routine, an occasion to soak up some pampering, to buck the workaday rush-out-the-door with decadent, scented candles, a flute of champagne, a long, leisurely soak in essential restorative oils, listening to soothing music, lights lowered, and later, swaddled in a heated, plush robe and slippers, then a massage, a sauna session, a salt soak, hot rock therapy, a mani-pedi and who knows what all they do there. But maybe that doesn’t sound appealing to you. You may not be inclined to indulge in this much-touted luxury, thinking: Who has the time to waste on such foolishness and, anyway, who has that kind of money? (Can you believe it? We have a Foot Spa near our home, advertising sessions at $60/hour! On your feet??) Well, to each his own as they say.
On another front, Dallas Willard would always insist: “Ruthlessly eliminate hurry.” This dictum was directed at the spiritual wellbeing of a people constantly racing, facing deadlines, watching the clock, perpetually behind the proverbial eight ball. It was meant as a reminder that some things require significant time investment to take root, to blossom, to bear fruit: a kind of spiritual ‘soaking’, if you will. Our Western World is rife with people on a mission, places to go, people to see, deals to sign, money to make. ‘Slow’ is pejorative, rarely viewed as positive or acceptable.
May I have permission to slow you down a bit? OK, thanks! A quick glance will have little effect but a soak in this will stagger your imagination! “In the very beginning the Living Expression was already there. And the Living Expression was with God, yet fully God. They were together – face-to-face, in the very beginning. And through his creative imagination this Living Expression made all things, for nothing has existence apart from him! Life came into being because of him, for his life is light for all humanity. And this Living Expression is the Light that bursts through gloom – the Light that darkness could not diminish! The Light of Truth was about to come into the world and shine upon everyone. . . so the Living Expression became a man and lived among us!” (Jn. 1 TPT) (If you rushed through this without awe, you’ll need to slow down as you read it again.)
Or how about this? “I give you this eternal truth: I have existed long before Abraham was born, for I AM!” (Jn. 8, TPT)
Ready for more? “For we have the Living Word of God, which is full of energy, like a two-mouthed sword. It will even penetrate to the very core of our being where soul and spirit, bone and marrow meet! It interprets and reveals the true thoughts and secret motives of our hearts.” (Heb. 4, TPT) (HINT: Jesus is the Word.)
One more if you can handle it: “Behold . . . I am the Alpha and the Tav, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the Completion.” (Rev. 22, TPT)
Well? Good stuff, right? PD
