Pastor Amy's Thursday Thoughts

I overheard some colleagues reflecting recently on the slump in church attendance during the summer in Rhode Island. I try not to get caught up on numbers - but the reality is that many of us find more opportunities in summer for rest and play than we do the rest of the year. This season of beaches and patios might be a prophetic call to us, a reminder that rest and play are part of who God is and who we are called to be. Rest and play are resistance to the persistent underlying message that we must work to earn our place.

Even God rested as part of the work of creation! In 1 Kings 19 we read the story of God sending an angel to encourage the prophet Elijah to have a snack and take a nap. And remember Jesus’ infamous nap in the back of the back of the boat during the storm?

So, as I head out to rest and play with my family in Oregon next week, I leave you this blessing and look forward to coming back together, each one of us refreshed for the journey of faith!

Blessings,

Pastor Amy

“God of levity,

Grant us rest that permeates our waking hours. Mark our days with the recreation and playfulness of our youth. Restore to us the energy for mischief and creativity and competition that we’ve lost as we’ve gotten older. Put people in our lives who inspire us in our play. Game nights, karaoke, gardening, film – we want more than the binary of work and sleep. We want delight in the in-between, those moments of interior rest that can happen while we’re awake. Show us what forms of entertainment and what hobbies lead us into peace. And protect us from the lie that if we are awake, we should be working. Remind us that a light heart is not a heart that lacks depth. That our play does not negate our grief. Let us rest in the way we need to today. Amen.”

From Cole Arthur Riley’s Black Liturgies: Prayers, Poems, and Meditations for Staying Human. New York, Convergent: 159-160.

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