Recorded MP3 audio meditations: downloads and audio streams, written reflections and contemplative resources by Dorinda Miller

Written Reflections

Beside the Sea

Summer and seaside are, in my mind, as closely connected as fish and chips and bucket and spade! Growing up in the south of England, the journey to the seaside only took an hour and we would frequently go for day trips in the summer. So, given that we are now in the season of summer, our theme for the next fortnight will be BESIDE THE SEA. We will look at this by taking a theme for each letter of the phrase: B for beach, E for encourage, S for sea, I for insight, D for drown, E for enjoyment, T for tired, H for harbour, E for exit, S for sky, E for everywhere, and A for always.

Beside the Sea - T for Tired

T for Tired

We all have some experience of feeling tired and weary. Sometimes in the days preceding a holiday we are so busy preparing to go, that by the time we arrive at our holiday destination, we can spend the first few days feeling increasingly tired and weary as we unwind from all that we have been experiencing in recent weeks or months. However, for some the phrase ‘a change is as good as a rest’ proves to be the case and the energy that comes from being somewhere different, with a different pace and opportunities to explore can be invigorating.

However you are feeling today, I would like to invite you to consider the topic of tiredness, through the following reflection.

TIRED – Weary? Worn-out? Exhausted? Dead-beat? Sleepy? Drowsy?

These are just some of the words that spring to mind to describe feeling tired. There are many types of tiredness and different causes for it For example physical tiredness, emotional tiredness and spiritual tiredness.

  • Think for a moment about what causes you to be physically tired?
  • Now consider what makes you emotionally tired?
  • And now ponder on what makes you spiritually tired?

In the busyness of life, how aware are you of these types of tiredness and what strategies have you developed and put in place to manage them?

  • What are the barriers that arise to block these strategies?
  • What are the benefits of persevering with them?

Imagine now that you are sitting in comfortable chair and relaxing. Jesus comes and stands beside you. What would you like to say to him about feeling tired? What advice and encouragement does he give you?

Close this time of reflection by reading Isaiah 40:28-31(NIV)

Written by Dorinda Miller; © D Miller 2018. For full credits please see the site credits page

Next Reflection:

H for Harbour