Finding Spiritual Whitespace
After reading the devotional, Breathe by Bonnie Gray, I fell in love with the author’s writing. I ended up taking some of her online courses as well as ordered all her books so that I could be further encouraged in a healing season of my own life. Recently, I just finished reading her first book, Finding Spiritual Whitespace: Awakening Your Soul to Rest.
Gray admits that she wrote her first book during a very hard season of her life. In fact, it woke up many memories from the past which led her to PTSD. She ended up having to go to a doctor who encouraged her to push through the hard memories which in the end enabled her to move forward. The goal of her book is to help readers, like herself, to move beyond the state of survival, to a rejuvenating place of the soul, rest.
In Finding Spiritual Whitespace Gray shares her healing process, which includes, as the title denotes, the importance of finding spiritual white space. She explains that in a painting an artist strategically leaves white space to help bring attention to what really matters and to keep the picture from being too busy. In the same way, the author eventually came to realize that she needed to make space in her day where she did not have anything planned so that she could have some healing moments. From her own experience, she encourages her readers to not just keep going, going, and going nonstop, just striving to make it through each day. Ignoring the issues of the heart can lead to PTSD and keep one from walking through an essential healing journey.
Bonnie Gray urges her readers to make white space in their day to day living so that there is room for rest and peace. She explains that white space can look like creativity, adventure, reading, sports, drinking coffee–whatever way rest looks like for each reader. The set aside time should be enjoyable allowing one to be still before God so He can work in each heart and bring healing.
I was reminded again as I read her book that our default should be rest and peace. If we notice that we are not at that place in life, then we ought to look in and allow Jesus to bring healing to us. I appreciate how she ends each chapter with a white space prompt (giving us ideas of how to create rest in our own life) and a soul conversation (encouraging us to spend time in prayer and talking to God so He can search our heart and show us ways we can be healed) directing us back to the default of rest.
