Pause and Reflect

A small yellow candle stands upright on a white base, its flame burning brightly, casting a warm glow on the surface, perfect for a brief, twenty-minute ambiance.

Life is very busy and sometimes it is hard to get a few minutes to just sit still and think, much more pause and reflect.

I recently celebrated my birthday and among the lovely gifts I received a small pack of candles really got my attention.

The little box is titled “Pause and Reflect: Twenty Minute Candles.” The idea is you take time out each month to light a candle, then pause and reflect for twenty minutes whilst the candle burns.

Do you ever take time to pause and reflect? Maybe you are even wondering what does that even mean.

My understanding is that it is good to take some time away from the busyness of life to be still, and to review life, what you have done, the things that have gone well and the things that needs some improvement and how you might make these improvements with no pressure.

What it is not?

It is not a time for beating yourself up on things that you could have done better but a time to think about conversations you had or actions you took that in hindsight you could have handled better.

You may think that you do this every day and I agree that you do but not with intention. When you don’t do it intentionally you are open to interruptions; the phone or doorbell ringing, daily chores or other similar distractions.

If you have never been intentional in doing this then as a start it is good to have something to focus on, for you it might be a lovely sunset or sunrise, or the formation of the clouds.

I did it focusing on a bible verse as my starting point; Psalm 1vs 1-3 says

Oh, the joys of those who do not follow the advice of the wicked, or stand around with sinners, or join in with mockers.

But they delight in the law of the Lord meditating on it day and night.

They are like trees planted along the riverbank, bearing fruit each season.

Their leaves never wither, and they prosper in all they do.

As I read these verses, then pause and reflect, I thought about the trees which are by a riverbank, how green and healthy they will be because of the continuous water supply and the nutrients from the riverbank. They will do what they are supposed to do, they will fulfill their purpose by bearing fruit which will be sweet and delicious to anyone who should pass by and pick the fruit to eat.

I compared myself to the tree in the passage. As a child of God, the riverbank for me is the bible, to be green and nutritious I would have to be rooted and grounded in God’s word so that I could be glowing and healthy and anyone who crosses my path will be blessed because I would be producing the fruit of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control according to Galatians 5:22-23

As I reflected I thought about what fruit have I given out lately and it led me to the message from Sunday about the sinful nature such as envy, outburst of anger, selfish ambition, dissension and division.

Do I have any anger towards anyone and if so what do I do about it. Thankfully there is no one I hold any anger against.

By being intentional in taking twenty minutes out of my day to pause and reflect I learnt something about myself, I can be intentional, I can pause and reflect, I can focus and not allow my thoughts to run off in every direction, I can get something good out of doing this. I plan to do this at least once every month since I have another eleven candles to go through.

A lone candle flickers on a flat surface, its flame valiantly burning down the last remnants of wax.

I also realised that in reflecting and focusing on these words from the bible verse I read; tree, riverbank and fruit it opened my mind to so many things that I could have spent twenty minutes on each of those words and would have written  three times what I have written here.

But the point of this is to encourage each one of us to take some time out of our busy day and pause and reflect.

I would love to hear about your pause and reflect.