Stepping Back
by Steph Beth Nickel
Good Friday … the perfect day to step back from the everyday.
Not simply a day off work, but a day to focus once again on what the Lord did for us approximately 2,000 years ago.
As Christians, this reality is the basis for all we believe. For all we do. At least it should be.
While attending a Good Friday service and fellowshipping at a church potluck may be on our agenda, more importantly, this is the perfect day to practice some less common Christian disciplines. Not that potlucks are a Christian discipline, but you know what I mean.
It’s a perfect day to explore silence.
Excuse me for a few moments while I “preach” to myself.
Between my To-Do lists, social media, audiobooks, podcasts, TV shows, etc., etc., etc., I rarely experience silence / stillness of any kind. And most of that is my own doing.
Today, I may do one or more of the following. Perhaps you’d like to do the same.
1. Set aside my To-Do lists. Those everyday tasks can wait.
2. Go for a walk on my own and listen to the sounds of creation. No earbuds allowed.
3. Take my camera along on my walk and snap pics of the beauty all around me, evidence of God’s creativity and so many other aspects of His character.
4. Ramble until I stumble upon truth in my journal. I haven’t done this in a very long time.
5. Meditate on God’s Word by leaning back, opening the One-Minute Pause app, closing my eyes, and drinking in the recorded truths.
6. Read a chapter in Emily P. Freeman’s How to Walk into a Room and listen to one or more corresponding blessings available on the Quiet Collection app.
7. Memorize one of more Bible verses that pertain to this pivotal weekend.
8. Fill our home with praise and worship music. Thank you, Prime Music.
Which of these inspire you to step back from your everyday?
Which ideas would you add to the list?
Steph Beth Nickel is a freelance editor and writer and an author. If you would like more information about her services, you can contact her at stephbethnickelediting@gmail.com.
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Thank you for these suggestions of how to step back and nourish our souls on what can be a difficult day for Christians to know how to respond. It’s pouring here, so no walk with a camera 🙁 I have a special Easter devotional cued, and I plan to sit with a few of the worship songs from my playlist. On Sunday, we will shout, “He is risen!” (He is risen, indeed!) but today a more solemn mood seems fitting.