Do you ever feel like your life is so crazy busy? And you wish you could push the pause button and escape the race? Me too! I believe Jesus valued the 'Pause' and invites us to do the same, "Be still and know that I am God." So How do we do this, join me on the trail and we can talk about how to practice the pause.

So Bonani Franz Judy here I am this

week's host for the Creative Spiritual

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Journey podcast, where GUI and I walk

with you and share the joys and wonders

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as well as the lessons we experience

along this marvelous journey of life.

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I'm so glad you're here.

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Today is day.

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Ooh, I didn't look.

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Day 600.

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Okay, stay with me.

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And 65, can you believe it?

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Well, my friend time is winding down,

but it feels more like time is winding

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up and the pace is a new kind of crazy.

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Have you ever ran a race?

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I've done a half marathon, and when

you see that finish line, a surge of

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adrenaline hits you and you sprint,

you wonder where that came from.

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It's ironic that I'm

calling today's episode.

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Press pause.

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When I'm in this crazy race at the moment,

in the yoga meditation world, there's a

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saying, everyone needs to take at least

10 minutes each day for meditation, and

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if you're too busy, well you need 40.

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There is an old parable

called sharpening the ax.

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I bet you've heard this before.

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There were two woodsmen.

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It challenged each other to see who could

chop down more trees in a single day.

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At sunrise, they both began

cutting with all their strength.

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One man worked tirelessly, never

stopping to rest the other paused, every

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hour or so at the end of the day, the

man who stopped to rest had chopped

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far more wood, the first wood cutter,

exhausted and frustrated, exclaimed.

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How could you have cut

more trees than I did?

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I never stopped.

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The other man smiled and replied, ah.

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But each time I stopped,

I wasn't just resting.

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I was sharpening my ax.

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Isn't that fabulous?

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Do you feel like the first woods, the

first, the first word, wood cutter.

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Ooh, how much wood would a wood chuck,

chuck if he wood chuck could chuck wood?

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Oh my goodness.

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Do you ever feel like that, that

you have exhausted yourself?

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Chopping wood all day.

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President Eser Taf Benson taught

that when we put God first, all other

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things fall into their proper place.

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In this sense, time spent in

meditation, in prayer and scripture,

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studying and pondering and resting

on the Sabbath, it is not wasted.

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It's sharpening our spiritual edge.

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I wanna share with you a story.

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Uh, this has happened so many

times here on mission, driving

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through the countryside.

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from here to there.

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And after a long day of mission

work, and Eric and I we're not

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agreeing about something and I can't

remember what it is, I felt bugged.

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And there's these demons that

are beating me up in my head.

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This is too much.

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You can't do this.

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And so I look at my phone to escape,

stressing about what to post and

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what to do, and of course, falling

into that social media whole

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and answering WhatsApp messages.

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Most of those, which are people

reaching out for help and I don't

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know how to respond, I feel exhausted,

and I just wanna go soak in a tub.

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Oh, by, by the way, we don't

have, so my mind is racing.

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I pause.

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To close my eyes and I pray, heavenly

Father, please help me know what to do

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and say, please help me feel thy peace.

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When I stepped out of the car, I hear

the sounds of birds, my heart rate slows.

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I feel a cool breeze.

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Then I look towards the west at the

sunset and the sky is a brilliant

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pink and purples and golds, and

there's huge thunder clouds.

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Ah, now my shoulders and my jaw

tension begins to melt away.

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And there it is, the pause my breath,

slowing, pausing to take it all in.

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And then surprising words of gratitude.

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Oh, I'm so grateful to be here.

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Was that my voice?

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I reach out and take Eric's hand.

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Forgiveness washes over me, and this

all happens within just seconds.

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Viktor Frankl, an author and psychologist

and also a, a Jew that survived the

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World War II Holocaust encampment.

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He wrote these words between

stimulus and response.

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There is a space.

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And in that space is our power to

choose our response, and in our response

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lies our growth and our freedom.

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I love the thought of this

superpower I have between stimulus

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and response is my choice.

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The difference between thinking

about doing something good and acting

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on it can be a moment, a spiritual

hundredth of a second, and in that

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second, that moment between stimulus

and response, we either respond to

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the spirit's nudge or we let it pass.

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That tiny difference shapes outcomes

in creativity, relationships,

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and discipleship far more

than it seems in the moment.

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In the Olympic races, a blink

of time, a hundredth of a second

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separates a medal from a miss in life.

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That same can be true spiritually.

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The pause before we act on a

prompting, the instant between fear

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and faith determines whether we step

into light or stay where we are.

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How many times have you been in that

moment, like I was in the car and

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wanted to just push a pause button?

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Remember the old tape recording

machines, the cassette tapes with its

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fast forward button, and it's rewind,

and record and play and pause button.

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We all have been in some emotionally tense

moments, especially if you're married.

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Conflict happens in all relationships.

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It's very human of us, whether

in our families or with

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our friends or at work or.

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Our missionary companions,

we face tough situation.

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In those moments, I find myself,

I wanna reach for the panic prayer

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button because I'm praying in my mind,

ah, heavenly Father, help me here.

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Instead.

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I wish I could push that pause button

and able to freeze time whoosh and

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let the Holy Ghost arrive and help me.

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I am sure you're familiar

with Psalms 46, 10.

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Be still and know that I am God.

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Whenever anyone is preaching or teaching

about meditation or pondering, this

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is a favorite scripture, but I wanna

read to you the next verse, verse

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11, the Lord of host is with us.

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The God of Jacob is our refuge.

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See?

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Sheila, this Hebrew word appears

74 times in the Old Testament.

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In the past, I've read over it as an amen.

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Paying no attention to it until I

dug a little deeper to find See?

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is a Hebrew word that is meant

as an intentional pause in

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the reading, a planned pause.

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A pause long enough to ponder and breathe.

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Okay.

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Isn't that beautiful?

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In Hebrew, the word Sheila, S-E-L-A-H most

likely signifies a musical instruction,

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possibly meaning a pause reflection, or a

musical interlude within a song or reading

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similar to a rest in a musical score.

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He consistently calls for a response from

the reader or worshiper, whether that is

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a quiet contemplation, exalting God with

loud song or a simple pause for breath.

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Have you ever been in a choir?

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I was in the bountiful high madrigals,

and I learned that when a comma appeared

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in the lyrics or in the music score, this

was when we took our breath together.

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The comma is like the sah, pause

for breath, the purpose of a pause.

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Pause a ponder, pause to pray, pause

to praise, pause to plan, pause, to

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prioritize the power of the pause, not

to talk louder or longer, but to learn

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to pause and let the truth sink in.

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Clarity comes in the pause.

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Clarity.

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Comes in the pause just recently

on a very crazy mission day.

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Ah, another one.

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They all are.

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I was on an errand taking Tondo to

the doctor's office for her mission

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medical exam while waiting, not

so patiently in the waiting room.

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I notice this saying on the

wall Titled, practice the pause.

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Pause before judging.

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When in doubt, pause.

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When angry.

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Pause.

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Pause before assuming when tired.

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Pause when stressed.

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Pause, pause before accusing, pause

whenever you're about to react

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harshly and you'll avoid doing and

saying things you'll later regret.

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And during the pause, pray.

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Isn't that wonderful to choose, to

love, to forgive, to respond with

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grace, to find joy or maybe even the

laughter in the humor of the moment,

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to see the beauty and to be able

to behold others as God sees them.

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And how about pausing to pray,

to let the Holy Ghost guide you?

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This pause takes practice.

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I'm sure it's something I will

be practicing all my life.

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So I've decided friends that to help

you along this journey of practicing

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the pause, I will include a guided

meditation, a little something to

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listen to, preferably on a walk, but

fit it in wherever you can, driving

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your car or sitting in stillness.

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It's meant to help you

in the busyness of life.

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Practicing hitting the pause button, zzz.

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Between stimulus and response our

way, that magic wand to freeze,

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to open that space where you meet

God in the stillness or the pause

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Gui and I thank you for your time.

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What a blessing to walk

together on this journey.

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We love you and wish you the

peace promised by our savior.

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I know the savior values the pause.

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He paused in his life and invites us

to pause in ours, my peace I leave

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with you not as the world giveth it.

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Let let your heart be troubled, neither.

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Let it be afraid for I have

overcome the world and in me.

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You shall have peace be of good cheer.

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I will send you the comforter.

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Lift up your head and rejoice.

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I will be with you in your heart.

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Be still and know that I am God.

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There's just a little bit left of

our journey here in South Africa.

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How do you ever say goodbye?

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I've never been good at goodbyes.

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So instead I'm gonna say,

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ah, what does that mean?

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It means I'll see you soon.

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Stay well, my friends.

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we love that you have

chosen to walk with us.

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And if you know someone that is a

little crazy and thinks they don't

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have enough time to push, pause,

share this podcast with them.

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And if you can push pause and take time

to give us a rating or write us a review

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gui, and I sure would appreciate that.

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That is how we grow and maintain

motivation to keep on going.

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Thanks friends, I'll see you on the trail.