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I don’t know about you, but I live in a hurry, and when I try to do things, I also go all in. This is tiring.

Years ago, I underwent a sleep test at a sleep clinic, and after getting all hooked up, I got so concerned about getting it right and giving them a good test that I only actually slept for about 45 minutes the whole night. Maybe you are like I am in that it is easy to get worked up and worn-out. It is also hard to find quiet time with animals, children, household and work demands (all of which are in my home). Maybe that is why I enjoy photography.

The simple and peaceful thing about a photograph is that while I am pulled to do and to move, the subject in the picture is not. Even if it is a moving picture, it is frozen in time. The pictures can be for me a moment of peace and rest and Sabbath. This is what the word “Sabbath” means, to stop.

Then, there is the joy of color and texture and shapes. God has filled this world with evidence of God’s glory. For a while, it has been my mission to add weekday pictures of beauty to our church Facebook page to remind and be reminded that God’s glory abounds.

It is important to have these moments of joy in God’s grace, things that cause us to be refreshed and to find space to share in God’s spirit through rest. We have the interests and passions and needs because God has given them to us to invite us to share in that sacred time. Sabbath has always been for this – to find God’s glory in our time of rest and to be renewed through what we enjoy. It is too easy to forget that we need this balance in a world that values productivity and efficiency as secular gods.

But then, there is peace…

Maybe you can find time to breathe and rest and be still and know God. This world in this time is wearing us thin. We need to stop and smell the flowers – at least to see them. God’s glory abounds all-around us if we only take the time to behold it. Blessings to you all.

REV. DR. PETER SMITH is the pastor for Farmville Presbyterian Church. He can be reached at pastorfpc@centurylink.net.