Il Dolce Far Niente

Il dolce far niente.

The sweetness of doing nothing.

I'm always envious of those people who seem to enjoy doing nothing.  Not always doing nothing, but having guilt-free moments of doing nothing.  Just resting, relaxing, enjoying the company of others, or enjoying being by themselves.

 

I am not very good at doing that.

 

I am usually too busy trying to do something, trying to be busy.  Even when I am 'resting', I will be thinking about other things, or I will check my phone, or my emails or do a bit of internet shopping.

 

I am the queen of multi-tasking.

 

I struggle to separate my worth and my value from what I do.  I think that the more I do, the more valuable I will be.  The more God will approve of me.  I struggle to feel valuable or approved when I am doing nothing.

 

But I'm getting better.

 

I'm learning that I am not defined by what I do or don't do, and am allowing myself to have moments of doing nothing.  And to actually enjoy them.

 

I love this verse which talks about being in the moment and forgetting everything else, to enjoy God's presence.

 

"Now listen daughter, don't miss a word: forget your country, put your home behind you.  Be here - the King is wild for you."

 

[Psalm 45:11 MSG]

 

I love this translation.

 

Be here.  The King is wild for you.

 

God is wild for me.  When I am doing nothing.  When I am enjoying doing nothing.

 

Nothing I do changes the way He feels about me.

 

 

 

 

Presents and Presence

As Christmas creeps on to the horizon (and, more importantly, my birthday), thoughts turn to presents.

 

You have perhaps seen the play on words in wedding or birthday invitations: It's your presence we want, not your presents.*  Or No presents thanks, it's your presence that counts!

 

There is something powerful and significant about our presence - about being present in a situation.  Not just being there in person, whilst our hearts or minds are distracted.  But being really present.

 

When we are really present, we can connect with people properly.  We are completely focused on them.  We can listen to what they're saying and what they're not saying, but longing for us to hear. 

 

When we are really present, we share something of ourselves with others.

 

It's the same with the presence of God, too.

 

When we enter His presence, we learn something of who He is. 

 

I have had the words of two songs about being in God's presence on my heart for the last few days.

 

The first is 'I Love Your Presence':

 

         "In the glory of Your presence
         I find rest for my soul
         In the depths of Your love
         I find peace
         Makes me whole

         I love, I love, I love Your presence
         I love, I love, I love Your presence
         I love, I love, I love You Jesus
         I love, I love, I love Your presence."

 

And the second is from 'Set a Fire' by United Pursuit Band:

       "No place I would rather be,

       No place I would rather be,

       No place I would rather be,

       Than here in your love,

       Here in your love."

 

This desire to be in God's presence is something that David understood.

 

        "The one thing I ask of the Lord —
        the thing I seek most—
        is to live in the house of the Lord all the days of my life,
        delighting in the Lord's perfections
        and meditating in his Temple."

 

       [Psalm 27:4 NLT]

 

Is this really the one thing I want?  The one thing I desire?  Is it the thing I seek the most?  Is there really no place I would rather be?

 

I'm not sure.  Probably not.  But I want to want it to be.  For it is in God's presence that we find rest for our souls and peace that makes us whole.

 

It is in God's presence that we find ourselves. 

 

 

 

 

*FYI This doesn't swing with me, I'm much more of a presents girl.

 

 

Layers

I have just finished making a pass the parcel and it has brought back many memories.

 

The anticipation as the parcel makes its way towards you.  The question of whether to hold on to the parcel for the chance of getting to unwrap it, or to pass it as quickly as possible on to the next person.  The fear if it is one of those parcels with dares inside it.  The excitement as the paper gets thinner and thinner and the sweets in the middle seem ever closer.

 

I love unwrapping things and the idea of doing it layer by layer always intrigues me as the anticipation and excitement builds with each layer.

 

Sometimes I think God reveals aspects of Himself to us layer by layer.  If we were to experience all there is of God in one go, we wouldn't be able to cope.  We see stories in the Bible of people not being able to look directly at God because it is too much.

 

Then Moses said, “Now show me your glory.”

And the Lord said, “I will cause all my goodness to pass in front of you, and I will proclaim my name, the Lord, in your presence. I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. 

But," he said, “you cannot see my face, for no one may see me and live.”

[Exodus 33:18-20 NIV]

 

As we listen to talks or chat with others about the goodness of God, we begin to develop a deeper understanding of who He is.  We begin to peel back more layers of His character.

 

And as we read the Bible, we experience the same thing.  The Bible describes itself like this - 

"For the word of God is living and active."

 

[Hebrew 4:12 NIV] 

 

That's how we can read the same passages in the Bible over and over and find something different each time.  That's how we can keep walking with God and not get tired, because there is always something new to discover.

 

There is always something new to uncover and reveal, because we are not learning finite facts, but are entering into a relationship with a living God.

 

There is always another layer.