Fermata 17 Jun 2022: Notes of Rest Turns 1!
Year in Review
Hey y’all!
I hope you’re finding ways to commemorate, celebrate, and even mourn all that Juneteenth represents. Talk about rest and restlessness!
In other news, Notes of Rest turns 1 year old this month! Man hasn’t it been an awesome journey this first year.?! What an amazing ride God has had me on with you! Ever since the first official session at St. James UMC in Alpharetta, GA last June, I’ve been witnessing what God has been birthing through me in this set of contemplative and musical offerings. And now, a year in, I’ve come to see just how much I and others have benefited from these experiences centered on the manifold ways of rest. To celebrate, here are some pictures from memory lane.
Notes of Rest at New Lenox UMC for The United Methodist Clergy Session, May 2022
Notes of Rest at Methodist Theological School in Ohio, May 2022
Duke Divinity School, Feb 2022
Center of Religion and Environment at Sewanee School of Theology at University of the South, Nov 2021
Enfleshing Witness Preaching Conference (Virtual), Aug 2021
Over the course of this year I’ve learned so much. It’s been a place to expand my understanding of rest based on the use of the term in the Bible. I’ve come to see that rest not only means pause from work, but also sleep, pause from conflict, embrace of death, and alignment of purpose. Notes has also been a place to see how restlessness is contagious like restfulness is. One kind of restlessness - e.g., overworking - begets others - bad sleep. However, restfulness also is contagious - e.g., my parents’ clear sense of purpose as parents gave me the foundation to pursue this path of spiritual entrepreneurship. Happy Father’s Day to my Dad and all the fathers out there!
Notes of Rest has also been a place to practice ancient spiritual disciplines of contemplative reading (lectio divina), contemplative listening (musica divina), contemplative asking (examen), and contemplative viewing (visio divina). I’m thankful to have learned more about the modern use of these ancient disciplines and to have met many others who are also keen on cultivating these practices for the sake of rest in themselves and their communities.
As Notes of Rest moves into its second year, my prayer is that the retreats, concerts, and lectures can give you and many others space to process what their communities need for the restful lives we were created to live. Thank you for partnering with me in that quest. May we continue seeking together.
abundantly,
Julian
P.S. Here’s a podcast interview about sacred art between me and Peter Bouteneff, a theology professor at St. Vladimir’s Orthodox Seminary.
P.P.S. Here’re the video links for a Retreat and Lecture I offered back in early May for Contemplative Outreach.
Photo by Angèle Kamp on Unsplash