The Restoring Powers of Active Rest!

Active rest is working one function of our humanity while resting other parts. One of my daily breaks is practicing my piano. I'm working my musically inclined part of my brain but my abs are resting comfortably in a soft, cushy puddle around my waist. I try to do at least one house chore a day during a break - fold clothes, clean the bathrooms, something so that my house is reasonably straight at all times. I exercise in one slot. My brain is on complete auto-pilot but those glutes and abs are fighting it out with gusto.

I also sleep. Although at the deepest point in my depression sleep was fitful, it certainly has taught me to appreciate a good night's rest.

Our brain works hard while we sleep; our body restores itself while we sleep; our memories consolidate and new information is integrated into our computer of a brain. I am often grabbing a notebook and pen in the middle of the night when awakened with a sudden thought, idea or insight. If I don't write it down, it's gone by first light.

Relationships are harmed when we are not rested. Anxiety and depression correlate with sleep deprivation. If you're sleeping a ton and still feel unrested, get it check out. You could have sleep apnea or other health problems. Sleep matters; treasure it!

How are you at active resting? Any tweaks you can make to improve your daily life?

Sit and Listen to Your Heart

"There is a candle in your heart, ready to be kindled. There is a void in your soul, ready be filled. You feel it, don't you?" Rumi

I hope you can find some time to sit in silence. Feel your heartbeat. Know that your life is richer than your bank account and more meaningful than the experiences you long for in order to add some spice to life. I pray you know that you are complete as you are and a relationship is not required for you to feel complete.

You are whole.

You are not broken beyond repair.

Repair may be needed but not because you are broken. Restoration is necessary because we are human and we break. The world is often hostile to the things of God. Created in his image, we will have troubles. (There is a teaching of Jesus that specifically reminds us of this.). This trouble is not because other people hate God - so this is not a persecution thing. It is a human condition.

Sit and listen to your heart. Watch and wait for the Lord to reveal himself to you in your ordinary, everyday life. Cooperate with him. Test and see if maybe Rumi is onto something.

The Dynamic Duo

The first baptism I ever performed was in a church. It totally freaked out those who came to be baptized. We were meeting in a school but walked across the street to a church for the baptism. I lacked imagination for what a jolt that would be to the system of our community. The church had graciously allowed us to use their baptismal font after their traditional 11 am service. Perfect. They would leave and we would arrive - no problem. Except that my friend freaked out. She was intimidated by the steeple, its people, and the formality of the environment. We survived the trauma. Barely.

Her shame attack was associated with past experiences in a church that sounded more like John the Baptist than Jesus. Remember? John was all about repentance. He went around in grunge attire shouting, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near." People traveled great distances to take him up on his offer to wash away their past and start fresh.

To us, John the Baptist sounds like he is issuing some sort of threat. Why can blame us? That is how it is presented in many churches. To the people who followed John this was a promise. My friend had years of triggered messaging from a church that preached a message of fire and brimstone to her, a young woman who feared she was dancing very close to the flames. Her experience resulted in shame and guilt but their experience, those who heard the message of John, was one of pardon. My friend heard her pastor demanding that she own up to her depravity, ego and pride. But this message was ineffective because these were not her core issues!

My friend's core issue was hopelessness. John the Baptist preached the message of repentance BEFORE Jesus stepped up and taught us the concept of grace. This was not a haphazard or mixed message from God to us. God gets us. God is not focused on us as miserable sinners; he is well aware that what we need is faith in HIS commitment and power to renew and restore what humanity breaks. Soon the weather will be warm and our community will return to the water for another opportunity to wash away the past and start fresh. Our usual spot is the James River. The bottom is rocky, the water often brown with swirling mud; I usually see a snake or two observing our ritual. I'm always glad when it is over and we all manage to safely return to shore. It seems more fitting, somehow, to enter into those rocky rapids with a little fear and trembling.

Self-Worth and Self-Care

“Rest is not idle, is not wasteful. Sometimes rest is the most productive thing you can do for body and soul.”

Erica Layne

People who know their worth recognize the value of self-care. They rest. They relax. They allow time for restoration. Those of us who do not KNOW this, are forced to either hop on the hamster wheel of trying to prove it to self and others or find some way to numb the pain that is associated with living a lie - that we are somehow lacking.

Devaluing or inflating ourselves is living a lie and lies are hard to maintain. It rubs against our nature. It flies in the face of who God says we are. It requires massive amounts of denial.

The world feels like a scary place; I get that. I know, oh how I know, the anxiety born of wanting to please and not offend others. But I also know this - trying to win someone’s approval when I refuse to approve of myself is a waste of time. It’ll never happen.

So today, rest up. And think about it - if you were a person of value and inherently worthy, what kind of person would you want to be?

Day 22: Very Human

“The goal of the Christian spiritual journey is not to become less human and more divine; it is to become more fully human. Salvation is not to rescue us from our humanity; it is to redeem our humanity.”

Sacred Companions, David Benner, p.35

What if…we were willing to embrace our humanity while working out our spirituality within the context of our very human selves? Would that change how we view self and others, even God?

The purpose of salvation is to restore to wholeness that which is broken.

Creatures break stuff. God heals broken people.

If the goal of life is to avoid breaking things, then life is hopeless. But if broken things can be healed, repaired, restored, renewed and transformed….then, let the adventures begin!

Do you respond to obvious signs of the human condition as if being human is offensive? Think about this. Sit with the question. See where it leads you. We are approximately halfway through our Advent season.

Breathe.