work

Lent Day 11: I give up Nonstop Work

February 27, 2021 — 1 Comment

If you keep your feet from breaking the Sabbath and from doing as you please on my holy day, if you call the Sabbath a delight and the Lord’s holy day honorable, and if you honor it by not going your own way and not doing as you please or speaking idle words, then you will find your joy in the Lord, and I will cause you to ride in triumph heights of the land and to feast on the inheritance of your father Jacob. For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.

Isaiah 58:13-14

I give up working as if when I stop, the world stops. I give into rest when I need to rest. I give up doing more, just so I feel like I’m doing something. I give into admiring how far I’ve come. I give up the fear of stopping. I delight in the moments of joy and rest and abundance. I give up withholding my enthusiasm and my joy. The other dips and the other sorrows will have their moment, and for now, I will bravely laugh too loud and smile too big. Rejoice when you can rejoice. Mourning will come. New mornings will also come.

Rest

September 24, 2020 — Leave a comment

By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work. Then God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done.

Genesis 2:2-3

When God sensed the completion of his work, he rested. He rested from the work of creating and called that day of rest, holy. What if you don’t sense the completion? What if the work you’re doing seems unfinished? Where does rest belong in the unfinished business of earth?

Our work on earth to dismantle systems of oppression continues. Our fight to tear down fascism, racism, sexism, ageism, I feel exhausted, simply trying to name it all. In a world where evil lurks in every corner, our work to battle and reclaim seems never-ending. How can this declaration of rest (which churches love preaching) fit in to our continual unfinished work? How do we not use the idea of self-care simply as an excuse to stop doing the work we are called to do as ambassadors of light?

If I draw back on the trajectory of Genesis 1, God took things in stride and developed his creation over time. He created light on day 1 and created man on day 6. Each day in a sense had its own creative purpose and goal. After the daily accomplishment, God waited until the next day to layer on. Each “day” came to a completion, followed by a “daily” rest. That “week” came to a creation completion, followed by a “weekly” rest.

On this side of heaven, we will remain unfinished and in process/progress. However, it doesn’t mean the idea of completion doesn’t apply. Little c, completion is correlated with the every day task at hand. Give each day the small steps to live by and accomplish, and with that, give each day the appropriate rest to enjoy following through. It will take a lifetime to dismantle oppression and evils, but the daily work to grow your heart, create something good and take responsibility for what God has entrusted deserve moments of rest. In these moments of rest acknowledge that God is good and evil will not prevail.

Day 22: EMO Woe

January 7, 2019 — Leave a comment

Exodus 16-18; Psalm 22

There are days that you are given the double portion in order to have a day of rest. We are given abundance in order to allocate well and plan for the future. That is as much a part of the story as trusting God for daily manna. We need to both trust daily, and take just as much as one needs daily, not more and not less, while being prepared for days when we cannot work and toil. Do we toil sometimes and never enjoy the fruits of our labor on rest days? Let rest exist. Let hard work exist. Let daily trust exist. Let interdependence exist.

Psalm 22 is super emo and desperate sounding. It’s often how I feel inside but I’m afraid to be that open about it. How can one be truthful with how one feels without feeling needy? As I’m typing this I’m in an emo mood. When you’re self-conscious about coming off too desperate or needy, you second guess asking every show of emotion. Or at least I do. Then I just become a bottled up bitter mess. So how can I be present in my feelings such as being forsaken and abandoned without making others eye roll? Do I need to care? Or is it presenting where you’re at in a certain place without needing anything from a human listener? I mean the best thing anyone can do when you’re so stuck and entrenched in your feelings is just listen. Because as you listen, you help unravel the blinders around me and pull me out of my woe is me. I never want to be in my woe is me phase but sometimes I’m there and your clarifying questions and care can help pull me back to the surface.