Dear Siblings in Christ,

We are here deep in the heart of summer. As I write this we’ve just had a few beautiful days in the midst of many more hot and humid ones. And while many do not get paid time off and flexibility to travel in this time, summer does bring a change in rhythm for most of us.

I notice this time of year that it’s often hard to schedule meetings around vacation schedules and travel, my own and others. Some of our churches shift their worship schedule. Some take breaks from certain ongoing ministries and host vacation Bible schools or mission trips or special retreats. Vestries often take a month or even two off from their regular meetings. And the heat invites us all to either slow down and rest when we can or find a spot by the water, even if it’s just the backyard sprinkler.

So it seems like a good time to talk about rest and renewal. We know that cycles of rest are baked into our theological foundations. God rested on the seventh day and invited us to do the same. The commandment for sabbath, given to the Hebrew people fleeing Egypt, must have sounded like heaven to those who had been enslaved. Cycles of debt release were built into the ancient Hebrew life every seven years. In a recent Sunday gospel reading, Jesus welcomes Mary’s attention at his feet even as her sister Martha insists on frenzied labor (without, I think, diminishing the beautiful ministry of hospitality that requires thoughtful attention to the needs of guests.)

While the culture we swim in often praises busyness, our communal life in North America has been shaped by the work of labor unions and activists who have curtailed child labor, instituted the 8-hour workday and 40-hour work week as the baseline, and created systems of safety for workers of all kinds.

We know all this: the importance of rest, renewal, and time for regeneration. But still we often find ourselves striving for more, for what comes next, for how to grow, change, fix all the problems, do all the things. Even in situations that require urgent action, there must be time for our bodies to eat and sleep and renew for what comes the next day.

As we enter this last month of summer, things will start to speed up again quickly. The beginning of the program year in September always has a fullness to it that is both energizing and tiring. In the natural world it is the busy time of harvest, gathering in the fruit of spring and summer growth to prepare for winter. Our bodies will feel the pull to be active.

But for now, in whatever way you can, I invite you to remember the rhythms of rest. Not just for yourself personally, but for our ministries as well. Take a week or a month to let rest something that’s important but not urgent: some ministry perhaps that you even love and cherish but need a week or a month off in order to come back to it with the energy it needs. Maybe it’s a good time to set aside the budget, the property, the committee meetings, and dream together as a vestry or as a congregation – let the Spirit inspire without yet worrying about deciding a plan of action. Or, take time to do something fun in your ministries, something that is just there to build relationships and have fun together. Maybe it’s even something really small, like building in a little longer pause at moments during worship to ground yourselves where you are and let yourself feel more fully the presence of God.

Even when things are busy and the needs of the world are genuinely urgent, part of our call is to make space for those moments of rest. Our ministries need our energy, our time, and our gifts. But they also need rest and renewal like we do.

May you find the kind or rest you need this last month of summer as well as in the midst of busy times ahead. 

Peace,