My sister posted this quote on Twitter and it made sense right away. The continuing pandemic, turmoil over books in school libraries, threats to voting rights and the future of our democracy, and our personal suffering form layer upon layer of weariness in us. We move from one thing to another, the next concern or need or crisis, and lose sight of what kind of tired we are.
My preaching professor counseled us that we are going to be tired in the ministry. But we should be concerned if we are tired of the ministry.
I appreciate people who can name this condition for us, who bring some clarity to our physical and spiritual fatigue.
It helps to know why we are tired so we can know what relief looks like: rest and peace. With relief, we can catch our breath, regain our balance, gather together, and lift up our heads and our hearts for the work that God has for us.
As United Methodists, we understand that “the heart of Christian ministry is Christ’s ministry of outreaching love. Christian ministry is the expression of the mind and mission of Christ by a community of Christians that demonstrates a common life of gratitude and devotion, witness and service, celebration and discipleship. All Christians are called through their baptism to this ministry of servanthood in the world to the glory of God and for human fulfillment” (2016 Book of Discipline, Paragraph 126).
The apostle Paul reminds us of God’s help at the heart of our need for relief:
Have no anxiety about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which passes all understanding, will keep your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus (Philippians 4:6-7).
A beautiful expression of the deep relief of peace is by Jessica Kantrowitz in her book, 365 Days of Peace: Benedictions to End Your Day in Gentleness and Hope. She shares this blessing for the end of the day so we can wake up tomorrow with hope:
Peace to us who have something we need to do
but can’t figure out how to start
Or know how but
it’s going to be so hard
Peace to the heavy inertia
that law of physics that
objects at rest tend to stay
at rest
& peace to the miracle that
everything
does move
eventually
In that peace, may you be blessed with strength for today, a good night’s rest, and bright hope for tomorrow.