This morning I am tired—and not for the reason you might think. . . I have slept well over the past several nights. As the season has shifted every so slightly, my body is enjoying the cool evening air as I drift off to sleep. My diet has been healthier than I might have expected. We are trying new recipes and flavors and the result is wonderful!
My exercise regiment has become more diversified and creative. I run more so my stride looks better. My meditation time with God has deepened and takes place more frequently. I can cycle longer at a higher intervals of leg speed and resistance which helps keep my heart and lungs functioning at a nice level. Everything looks good in my physical life.
Spiritually, I spend more time with God’s word, and I have found myself completing some books that I longed to finished but couldn’t make the necessary time to complete. They have sparked some creative ideas that occupy my mind like fireflies on a summer night. As I no longer have doctoral requirements to complete, my mind is free to think clearer and longer on church issues at a microlevel and then envision ways to transition them to a macro one. I am even presenting my doctoral research to some colleagues later in September, and I am very excited about it (here’s hoping I can keep it to less that 2 hours!) spiritually you might think I look good too. . . .but
I am tired.
My point is this: everything looks good in my life. All of the metrics that determine physical and mental health point upward. . . and yet. . . I feel tired today. Maybe you feel tired today as well. Maybe you know someone whose life looks tired to your eyes. You can see their heart is heavy and their shoulders are slumped?? And while things on the outside look good, there is a nagging sense that something is off and you wonder how can I be present in their life?
When that happens, I think we need to consider the simple question:
So where do we go to mend ourselves?
It is a pretty simple and straightforward question. But one that is deeply personal, and from my perspective, deeply neglected when we too feel worn and fatigued. Self-care in this manner is about renewal of our minds and our souls with God that creates space for us to mend ourselves—with God’s help and God’s hands. So many of us frantically move from task to task, or place to place, or expectation to expectation, that we do not stop and find time, or perhaps make the time, for the practice of mending ourselves with God’s help.
We know that Jesus took regular breaks to be away from people so that his soul could interact with God in heaven. I wonder if those were times that, regardless of how they looked to our eyes if we happened upon Jesus in on that day, were times of soul-mending? Golda Poretsky once wrote, “Do something every day that is loving toward your body and gives you the opportunity to enjoy the sensations of your body.”
As I am sitting here, I still feel tired even after considering Golda’s words. But I wonder what practice could I adopt today that would help me do something that mends me and gives me the chance to be joyful???
Blessings
Rev. Derek
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