Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls –
Matthew 11: 28-29

Perhaps because fall is my favorite season, I don’t consider it hectic. It’s likely the sweaters and fall colors obscure all the deadlines and holiday plans coming around the bend. This is a playlist of rest, but rest in its complexities. All of these songs speak to the rest in God’s love, which is ours for the taking at any moment, but some of these songs also tell of the short rests along a journey, the rest that comes with the new day, the rest found in the midst of work, the rest in the middle of grief or found in the forgiveness of our sins. One song reminds us of the rest that we are called to create for other people who are suffering.

These songs aren’t meant as an escape from this present world, (“…tomorrow is a Monday morning. A cleft has opened in the pitiless walls of the world, and we are invited to follow our great captain inside,”C.S. Lewis once said.) Rather, it’s a renewal of perspective in the midst of it all. It’s a reminder that God’s rest is His gentleness with us.

Sara Bannerman

Sara is from Jackson, MS where she currently teaches high school English and World Lit at a local university. She spends much of her free time writing short stories about Mississippi, drawing from her state’s little eccentricities and mysteries. She also enjoys watching old movies, decompressing with the occasional video game, and traveling (conquered the Canterbury pilgrimage in England this past July)! Once a month she hosts a gathering of writers dubbed The Draftlings, named in honor of Tolkien’s Inklings, first drafts, and her drafty old house (though she loves it dearly).