Lent / Rest
by Josh VonGunten
As we find opportunities to dwell in silence, as we create a clearing for listening, we will increasingly become more aware of our limits, which…is a very good thing. We certainly live in a society where there’s no shortage of voices that encourage us to deny or rise above our limits. With this as our collective background, it can be quite hard to see the goodness of limitations, even harder to embrace them. For me, it has taken experiences of actually trying out and experimenting with limits to help me see the good. As the wisdom saying goes, we don’t think our way into new ways of living, we live our way into new ways of thinking. In reality, our minds follow our bodies.
Acknowledging our limits has the power to bring us home to our lives, bodies, and stories as they actually are. The more we align ourselves with how things actually are, the more we’re aligned with the kingdom of God. God is interested in making us more real, not less. C.S. Lewis said it this way, “Heaven is reality itself. All that is fully real is Heavenly.” In contrast, the way of grandiosity and ego would have us deny our limitations, to pretend we are fine, for example, when we’re actually exhausted or sick. When Jesus was hungry and tempted by evil to turn stones into bread, he resisted not by denying his hunger but by appealing to something more primal: human limitation and the need to live in radical dependence upon God.
As we make our way through Lent, as we keep listening for the unique wisdom of this season, it’s inevitable that we’ll be drawn deeper into consideration of our limits. What might this look like? In such a busy world that makes so many demands upon our time, I’m drawn to wonder if our relationship with rest might be a rich starting point for contemplation? Maybe it’s simply in noticing the feeling of being tired and in need of rest. Is it possible that simply feeling tired and owning it in the moment could be a subversive and redemptive practice for us as people who live under weird expectations to be “high-energy”?
Not long ago I came across a fascinating article that told the story of Tricia Hersey, a woman who started something pretty wonderful called the Nap Ministry. Tricia, motivated by seeing and experiencing how black people are uniquely impacted by sleep / rest deprivation, started a movement that helps all kinds of people understand their God-given limits and get the rest their bodies need. Tricia’s vision is grounded in her faith, which informs her understanding of human beings as created by God for a life of balance, not exhaustion. Her work and ministry is catching on and finding an audience because she’s shining a light on a forgotten and essential part of what it means to be human. Who would have thought simply giving people permission to rest would become so novel and vital?
Below is a poem, a practice, and a prayer. The content below will probably be most helpful if you sit with it and take it in reflectively and leisurely over several passes.
Poem:
Dust by DORIANNE LAUX
Someone spoke to me last night,
told me the truth. Just a few words,
but I recognized it.
I knew I should make myself get up,
write it down, but it was late,
and I was exhausted from working
all day in the garden, moving rocks.
Now, I remember only the flavor —
not like food, sweet or sharp.
More like a fine powder, like dust.
And I wasn’t elated or frightened,
but simply rapt, aware.
That’s how it is sometimes —
God comes to your window,
all bright light and black wings,
and you’re just too tired to open it.
Practice:
Over the next several days pay attention to when you’re feeling tired and in need of rest. Pay attention and make note of the different forms of tired you experience from the need to simply get off your feet for a moment, to the need for a few moments of quiet, to the need for a short nap. Practice giving yourself permission to feel your limits by owning them as the most natural and human thing you could do. Lastly, practice embracing the need for moments of rest throughout the day by actually taking a few moments to rest. Journal and share what you are noticing.
Note: While each of our contexts and circumstances will offer different margins for rest, be creative and try to find opportunities, even if they are brief, to receive rest when you need it. One small idea would be noting the difference between scrolling on your phone in a moment of down time versus taking a moment to close your eyes and breathe deep.
Prayer:
God, thank you for the amazing gift of life, for the gift of being human. Teach me to regard my limits with grace and honesty. Help me to recognize where and how I’ve been tempted to disregard limits and by the lead of your Spirit, welcome me into the ease and warmth of coming home to my life, body, and story. Jesus, show me the way of peace that enabled you to sleep on a boat while surrounded by a storm. Help me today to give others the same grace I am seeking for myself. Amen.
