Last week my husband, son and I had a three-night stay in Warwick. We met up with my other son and his partner who live in Coventry. On one of the days, we visited the Charterhouse in Coventry. It is set in lovely grounds and it was very interesting to see the wall murals which dated back many centuries and were beautifully preserved. This building used to be a home for monks and the guides were helpful and told the history in an exciting way.
In the garden there was a wooden bench with the following message inscribed on it,
“If the bow is stretched for too long, it becomes slack and unfit for its purpose.”
I think this message is so true of most of us today. We keep trying to do far too much and in stretching ourselves for too long we forget that we need to rest. Without a rest we can be far too tired and we don’t leave enough time to appreciate what is all around us. We need to take time out and rest our bows.
Dear Lord, please help us to sit quietly and listen for your voice. Remind us that if we’re exhausted we can’t do your work to the best of our ability. Thank you.