Dearly Beloved,
Grace and Peace to you.
“Martha, Martha, you are worried and distracted
by many things;
there is need of only one thing.”
—Luke 10.41-42
Martha wanted help doing the work. It was a reasonable request. It’s a consistent pressure in our lives, to be helpful. To have work. To do our part. To earn our keep. But we become attached to it. It sickens in us; it becomes fear of not being useful, not being worthy. Fear of being ourselves.
Sometimes “our part” is simply to be. Sabbath is time that is holy because in it we are not Creators, creating our world and our worth, but creatures. Our worth is not derived from our contribution, but from our having been created by God. Period. Like an infant in its grandparent’s arms, we are loved simply because we exist. In sabbath time we focus on the one thing needed— to be in relationship with our Creator.
So we sit. At the feet of the Human One, we sit and practice being a child of God. We practice being. We practice trusting that God loves us unconditionally, independent of anything we do, even whether we believe or love or pray. And we practice trusting that the world will get on fine without us.
Every day we take some time to simply be without doing. Every week we take a day. And every once in a while we take a vacation.
So I will. I’m taking a month off. I’ll let go of my work, and I’ll let go of Unfolding Light. I’ll not do anything useful, but just sit (in a car, for a lot of it) with Jesus. And Beth. And our boys. And family. I’ll mostly just be. Though I do promise I will do the dishes.
I’ll see you in late August.
Deep Blessings,
Pastor Steve
__________________
Steve Garnaas-Holmes
Unfolding Light
www.unfoldinglight.net
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