The Gift of Rest

October 21, 2022

If you tuned in last Sunday, you were invited to consider how the wisdom of this season invites us to slow down- to turn within. To rest and to re-evaluate. A link to the shared reading is here

I also spoke to the noticeable tension many have been feeling between the urge to slow down, just when it feels like we finally got going again. Yet, we are also becoming aware that we may not want to speed up to that unsustainable pace that has so many of us lost in the never-ending cycle of busy.

The ‘great pause’ that we experienced has revealed more of how unhealthy and disconnecting that cycle really is. It disconnects us from our true selves, from each other and from the wisdom of our Mother Earth. The digital world continues to encroach more and more into our days and our ways. Many people are literally addicted to social media under the guise of connection. Like so many things in our modern world, social media was designed to capture its audience. This is the downside of technology that is used to create algorithms with the purpose of luring us into to buying things or believing certain things. Only to continue to feed us more of those same things. A cycle that actually leaves us feeling more disconnected.

It has been devastating to see the reality of some of the toxic systems at work in our country and in the world. Systems designed to maximize profit at all cost. To prioritize profit over people. Systems designed to oppress certain groups of people- in order that others feel elevated in a system that degrades us all. Many of us don’t want to rush back into feeding those systems. They are unsustainable and they are breaking our hearts and our spirits.

The pace that is set by these systems literally leaves us exhausted, yet questioning our worth and validity if we are not doing-- that is to say, feeling like we are producing in some way.
We are not encouraged or supported to rest our bodies or our minds. This is exactly what is needed if we are to really connect with our spiritual nature- which holds deep wisdom and connecting creativity. It is here that we come to know our sacred Being-ness as much, if not more, than all that we are called to believe that we must do, in order to be.

I am grateful to have recently found the book by Tricia Hersey entitled, Rest Is Resistance.

It speaks to what I believe a great many of us are feeling, but are uncertain how to name.
And even more uncertain what to do about it. That is to be expected when we are calling out systems that are designed to stay in the shadows, and make us doubt ourselves instead of them.

I believe that once we get clear about this, and address it for what it is, we can begin to imagine and create a new way. Systems are a creation of humanity. They do not stand alone without our wiling participation. Surely we can work together to create systems that actually serve and support the wholeness of humanity, rather than deplete it.

That is the invitation of Tricia Hersey's word here:

“People are waking up to the truth of their manipulation under toxic systems.
These systems are killing us, and our planet.

People are waking up to heal. People are waking up to rest.

We will no longer be a martyr for grind culture. Grind culture is a collaboration between white supremacy* and capitalism. It views our divine bodies as machines. Our worth is not connected to how much we produce. We are worthy because we are.

This is the opening that the slow down continues to provide- it has allowed for us to get ourselves back. To reclaim ourselves and each other…. because everyone is suffering.
Our planet is suffering.

May our culture slow down. May we rest together.

May we have space to navigate our lives from a liberated rest state.”

As you read that quote- what stands out to you?
What do you feel called to explore more deeply? Take time to do that.
Consider for yourself how hard it can feel to slow down, or to rest.
Do you feel guilty or flawed when you have the urge to slow down?
Where did you get that message?
Consider how you can support yourself in releasing that message and replacing it with one that affirms that you are enough and worthy of rest.
What awareness comes to you when you slow down?

Join us Sunday at 10am to continue this exploration.

*If you are unfamiliar with or feel discomfort with the term “white supremacy culture” (as I did when I first heard it), I offer you this resource to consider.

In order to ease my own sense of discomfort and defensiveness, it has helpful for me to remember that these are systems that have shaped our collective culture, and thus, our collective consciousness. It is not our fault that these cultural beliefs have made their way into our own beliefs. It can be quite startling when you first discover them there.

Like all things, I believe that we are responsible for shining the light of awareness within ourselves to uncover how limiting beliefs and distorted truths live within us. This is another layer of discovering where we have been wounded and how that has shaped our experience of ourselves and our world. Recognizing where our thoughts and beliefs about ourselves in relation to others are in disharmony with the fullness of Spirit that we are, is essential to our freedom and clears the way for greater harmony.
Doing so allows us to see how we have all been hurt and limited. This can then help to fuel our desire to do our part in imagining and creating a new, more collaborative narrative that does, indeed, honor and reflect the divinity of all of creation.

What an opportunity we are being called into.