July 24, 2024 Weekly Update
The past few weeks have felt like….. a lot. If you been paying half-attention to the news, things feel very chaotic and overwhelming. We’ve had hot weather over 90 degrees for 15 days in a row. We witnessed an attempted assassination of a former president. We’ve watched politics get upended in unprecedented ways. The smoke has rolled into the valley as fire activity picks up around us. And global air travel, business, and hospital systems were disrupted because of a simple computer update. We should call it “jumbled July.”
For the last two Sundays, we’ve reflected on the rhythms and routines of our lives, and how in summer, many of those routines change or lose their regularity. The rhythm of worship – every Sunday – mostly stays the same. We relax the routines of our lives during summer because we are often resting or relaxing in ways that are difficult during the rest of the year.
But if you are finding it hard to rest these last few weeks, if you feel anxious about your life, or the news, or the affairs of the world, I invite you to a moment of rest, prayer, or mediation. In the article “30 Bible Verses about Rest When You Feel Overwhelmed,” Olivia Bardo writes, “Rest is also essential if we aim to follow the biblical call to “do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly” — work that is joyous, yes, but also exhausting. “The site of rest, the source of peace, and the offering of justice are one and the same,” writes Jeania Ree V. Moore in “Rest Is Resistance.” “This identity, reflected in Jesus, tells us something about how we can and should live in this moment. If our struggles preclude or exclude rest—If they are cultivating fear, anxiety, and a dwindling sense of hope—then we need to find a different way.”
The verses above come from this article. If you resonate with the need for rest, I invite you to ponder or pray one of these verses as you rest for a moment in God’s loving presence. Feel free to read the whole article here: https://sojo.net/articles/30-bible-verses-about-rest-when-you-feel-overwhelmed
Blessings,
Pastor Jared