Scripture: Genesis 2:2-3
By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work. Then God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done.

Thought for the Day: When I first started learning how to play jazz piano, I had the good fortune of working with a phenomenal bass player named Jay. Being new to the cool riffs and scales of the jazz/blues idiom, I tended to play every note I could in my solos on those early gigs. Way too many notes!

I think by the third or fourth night we were playing at a club, Jay leaned over to me and patiently said, “You know, the real music is in the spaces between the notes.” It was a revelation. On the very next song, I worked more on not playing than playing. Over time, focusing on the musicality of the spaces made a huge difference in the way I played, and in the way I communicated as a musician, in the groove, and in the quality of my interpretations of songs.

Jazz and faithfulness have a lot in common. So often I think we tend to cram our faith life with too many notes and forget to leave space for the movement and music of God. Many of us read the Bible religiously, but don’t spend any time studying to see what the authors were actually talking about. We pray and meditate, but don’t quiet our minds to listen for the songs of God. We work, work, work ourselves until we collapse at the end of the day, rather than leaving a space here and there to regroup, to be reinvigorated, reinspired.

Restful spaces are the most important moments in our lives. Modern society tells us to be productive. We rush from one job or commitment to another. We burn out by age 35 and have heart attacks by age 40. We need to rest. Study after study has shown that people who take respites throughout the day are actually more productive and make fewer mistakes.

More importantly, we need to take time to appreciate the work God has done and the work God continues to do. In rest new ideas reignite our passion. In the quiet times we compose new songs and are open to new revelations. Yes, we have work to do, but we’ll never be able to accomplish it without leaving room for the movement of God in the spaces of the songs of life we are each beautifully, miraculously improvising.

Prayer: I am but an instrument of Your universal song of peace and love, God my composer. Amen.