This is has been an amazing year so far in my life in ministry. I have taken some amazing classes through Lexington Theological Seminary, I have gotten to do some pretty cool things with my awesome congregation, I have gotten to serve youth at Church Camp and for the first time I got to attend our General Assembly of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in the United States and Canada. And in all honesty, General Assembly has really refreshed my call to ministry. It is amazing the work that the Disciples are doing around the world, from disaster relief to global partnerships in serving vulnerable populations, our Church is there. And we are also active in Global Christian and Interfaith organizations in which we were founding members, many of these relationships having started in the early 1900's!! It is amazing the things that we can do when we come together.
But after all of this excitement, all of this learning and growing, I am exhausted. It is probably because I take on so many tasks at once and my mind spins a lot on my education as well as church planning and future goals. It is time for a rest. This next week I am traveling with my mother to go and enjoy the beauty of God's Creation in Alaska. I am attempting to fully disconnect for this trip so that it can be truly restful for me. In my absence, the Elders of our congregation will be filling in for spiritual care and my dear friend and mentor John Brock will be filling the pulpit.
As I am preparing for my own rest, I am remembering the several times I have given the advice to others to take time for rest, for prayer, for self care. Self Care is something that is throw around a lot these days, but it is deeply important for our Physical, Mental and Spiritual well being. Unfortunately the culture of our time in the US is work, work, work, and I truly believe this is not helping the ever increasing mental health crisis in the US. We have to work to be able to live, many cannot afford to take time away from work because they could loose the roof over their heads or not be able to feed themselves or their children. As a society, especially coming from the perspective of faith, we need to be able to rest. Taking rest is rooted in Scripture, God took rest after creating, God commanded a sabbath for rest, God instructed people who were overworked, stressed and angry to eat some food and take a nap. Rest is deeply important to creation, so let's work at creating a world where rest is valued, where rest is an option. Let us care for each other as God cares about us.
Comments