Peace and rest

So many have been sharing recently that they are exhausted. Tired of being tired. Chronically weary and threadbare from 18 months of over-functioning in pandemic and with so many pivots. There have not been the usual rhythms of rest and relaxation, work and vacation, school year and summer. We all need deep days of rest and renewal to continue to sustain all that is before us. I came across Pete Greig's Sabbath Blessing on Lectio 365 recently:

May this day bring Sabbath rest to my heart  and my home.

May God's image in me be restored, and my imagination in God re-storied.

May the gravity of material things be lightened, and the relativity of time slow down.

May I know grace to embrace my own finite smallness in the arms of God's infinite greatness.

May God's word feed me and His Spirit lead me into the week and into the life to come.

And then there is Jessica Kantrowitz's benediction:

Peace in your exhaustion

Peace in your collapse

Peace in your rising

Peace in your second wind

Peace in your plodding on

Peace in your soaring

Peace in your wrapping up

Peace in your giving up

Peace in your resting

Peace and rest

Peace and rest

Grace and peace,

Anita Sorenson

Pastor for Spiritual Formation