Holy Pauses

July 8, 2025.

I feel like I've been on an emotional marathon over this past six months. Sometimes it feels like I’m running out of steam. And yet I know the importance carrying on with life, of keeping abreast of what’s happening so that I can know how and when to respond to what’s happening in this chaotic world.

Summertime is often a time of rest and renewal. You may remember my previous blog on Rest, (May 7, 2025) and today I am adding to the theme of Rest as I explore “Holy Pauses.”

Howard Thurman, the twentieth century Christian mystic and civil rights leader invites us to intentionally come to points of rest, places of Holy pause throughout the day. In these times of Holy focus he says that we can "be blessed with the vision of God,” [1]

I agree with Thurman when he says that there is strange magic in activity, in being involved in many things that excite our minds and keep the hours passing swiftly, [2].

I would add that busyness excites more than just our minds. It affects all aspects of us--physical, emotional, mental and spiritual.

To Thurman, intentional moments of pause have their own magic, giving us opportunities to receive the Guest, that is, the Divine, [3]. They are times in which we can briefly touch eternity, [4].

Thurman’s views are well supported by other spiritual leaders.

Theologian Henry Nouwen says that our worried, over scheduled lives are filled with so much inner and outer noise that we are prevented from truly hearing and understanding the Holy, [5]. He invites us to choose to live lives that have places of “free inner space,” so that we can connect with God and follow Divine guidance, [6].

Renowned Trappist monk Thomas Merton says that the pressures of modern urban life cause us to need interior silence that help us to keep ourselves together and maintain our human identity and spiritual freedom, [7]. This rings true for me as I strive to live well in amongst 2025's barrage of negative world news.

Reverend April Yamasaki says that a spiritual practice for busy people begins with "stopping” and reminds us that even if all the activities we’re doing are good, overworking can harm our health and our relationship with Spirit, [8].

There are many ways to create Holy Pauses. I invite you to use your imagination to figure out how this spiritual practice might unfold in your life circumstances.

Here are some ideas to set you on a path of finding spacious living. A life in which you intentionally take moments to focus on the Holy:

• Create a carefully paced schedule that includes time for rest, prayer and self-care. If possible, ensure that you have enough space in each day to be able to respond with graciousness to unexpected things that happen.

• Avoid overscheduling spiritual activities. A beloved spiritual mentor often has reminded me that “less is more” and that we can always choose to repeat and/or go deeper with less spiritual options.

•. Lower your expectations of what you can participate in in each day. Experience JOMO, (Joy of Missing Out) rather than FOMO, (Fear of Missing Out).

•. Set good boundaries around what you are willing and not willing to do. Invite the Spirit to help you to discern and hold these boundaries.

•. Regularly take moments throughout the day to remember that the Holy One lovingly supports and sustains you. This may be through traditional prayer, or paying attention to something in nature, a piece of art, listening to music, etc. Perhaps put reminders on your phone calendar or use the rhythms of the day to remind you to do this, (i.e. dawn, mealtimes, dusk, dark).

•. Take some deep breaths or do a breath prayer between activities, (see June 8, 2025 blog about breath prayers).

•. Linger over a cup of tea or your favourite beverage.

•. Stop and write a Haiku or other simple poem related to something in your day.

For those of you whose family and/or work demands prevent you from engaging in the spiritual practice of Holy pausing, I invite you to spend some time prayerfully reflecting on how this might come about in your life.

Perhaps it might require that you reduce your expectations. Maybe you will commit to intentionally pausing only once each day. Or choosing to step away from technology for an hour or two.

I am praying for all of you as you consider participating in “Holy Pauses” and the other spiritual practices that I’ve been offering in this blog.

And as one who continues to learn about and participate in the blog's spiritual practices myself, I will be taking a Holy Pause, doing Holy Rest this summer. My next blog offering will be available on August 18th.

Please feel free to return to any of the previous blog’s spiritual practices as you feel so called.

Summer blessings and joy, Tanya

1. Howard Thurman, Meditations of the Heart, Beacon Press, Boston, MA, 1953, 31.

2. Ibid, 29.

3. Ibid, 30.

4. Christine Valters Paintner, Sacred Time: Embracing an Intentional Way of Life, Sorin Books, Notre Dame, IN, 2021, xi.

5. Modern Spiritual Masters Series: Henry Nouwen: Writings Selected with an Introduction by Robert A. Jonas, Orbis Books, Maryknoll, NY, 1998, 7.

6. Ibid.

7. Thomas Merton, Contemplative Prayer, Image, NY, NY, 2014, xxviii.

8. April Yamasaki, Four Gifts: Seeking Self-Care for Heart, Soul, Mind and Strength, Herald Press, Harrisonburg, VA, 2018, 37, 38.

   
   

This blog is dedicated to the memory of Maureen Fowler, a beloved spiritual mentor.