Tag: Tricia Hersey

12 Days of ….

Black and White image of a Patridge perched in a pear tree found https://www.englishstamp.com/product/partridge-in-a-pear-tree/

You know God,
as my husband takes down the Christmas tree
Christmas eve
(quick before we get distracted)
and the relations make their way home
and the songs
and candlelight fades

that we need time
to sink into Christmas
because Christmas is a journey..
I say this not to tsk about
Advent vs Christmas vs Epiphany
But to think about deep rhythms
of the body, winter and the universe

And how we need a good couple of weeks
of Christmas-tide
to rest
think
and pondering

There is so much
journeying
and pondering at Christmas

not to mention comforting of one another

Yet we seem to burst onto the scene in joyfulness
and glory
and demand a quick wrap up with the wise ones
before we rush home

I wonder how wonderful it would be
if we gave
one another the time
of slow
and fruiting
Christmas
with a full couple of weeks of rest

(I thought this especially during Covid “Shutdown”
what if we emphasized a quiet holiday time home
protecting one another?)

How I long for a time of cozy recovery
built in to our culture
Tricia Hersey suggests we snatch
this kind of of rest
whenever we can

So I pray that you
steal some
cozy
restful
comfort
and
recovery
this
holiday-tide

And if you have
not
I hope that you build it in
As I imagine

Jesus
longing for Peace for all
as he lay
with his parents
snug
after all of the festivities

Feel free to use/adapt/share with credit to Pastor Katy Stenta “KatyandtheWord”

Pride and prejudice archive. The days between Christmas and New Years. A woman reading by the fire, another reclining on the couch, the third writing. all look languid.

More Memes/Notes resources

More things I’m finding along the way (Under Construction, I will add onto this as I find things that strike me)

If you appreciate my work, please support my D. Min in Creative Writing. I am in my final year and raising money here: https://gofund.me/391febb1
I am more than halfway funded! Any amount $10-$200 helps. Receipts available!

The Breath Prayer written by Sheridan Voysey Lord God, Fill me with your Holy Spirit. I receive your love & release my insecurity. I receive your joy& release my unhappiness. I receive your peace & release my anxiety. I receive your patience & release my impulsiveness. I receive your kindness & release my indifference. I receive your goodness & release my ungodliness. I receive your faithfulness & release my disloyalty. I receive you gentleness & receive my severity. I receive your self-control & release my self-control.*

*Some of these breath prayers are very Christian or too severe or ableist. I would be very careful before I gave these to an entire group. However they are good for ideas, and might be ok to be given as a choice with the gentle caveat that they are just ideas and do not fit everyone.

There is no end to what a living world will demand of you –Octavia Butler @BlackLiturgies author is Cole Arthur Riley who also wrote “This Here Flesh” Sermon Series (Which you may recall is a sister series to this one)

Inhale: The demand is too great Exhale: I deserve to stay whole @BlackLiturgies

Inhale: My “no” is sacred. Exhale: I can honor its Sound @BlackLiturgies

Meditate & Reflect: How does your body feel today?What practice brings you renewal? Who in your community is protective of your body and its needs? What dominant fear keeps you from saying “no'”? Explore its origins. What demands are you making of others that you can release?

@joynessthebrave This is your gentle reminder that one time in the Bible Elijah was like “god, I’m so mad! I want to die! so God said “Here’s some food. Why don’t you have a nap?” So Elijah slept, ate, & decided things weren’t so bad. Never understimate the spiritual power of a nap & a snack.
(This is one of my all time favorites)

“May we learn to honor the hammock, the siesta, the nap, and the pause in all its forms.” Alice Walker

Rest is Resistance Week 6

For many of us clergy, overwork may be a sign of PRAGMATIC ATHEISM. We don’t trust God enough to rest, leaving what is undone in God’s care

“How do you make space to transcend the confines of a system that prays to the call of ‘profit over people’?” p. 56
1 King 19:4-7
Romans 8:22-26
Grief & Healing

Call to Worship
(Breathe in) I will give space
(Breathe out) I will let go

Prayer of the Day
God,
we have crammed
so much into our lives
we do not leave much
room.
What thousands of stories
are untold, because
we are not rested?
What work is the world
groaning towards
already?
What dreamwork
did Elijah do
under the fig tree?
Let us find more
space for all work
to be done
without us
we pray.
Amen.

Call to Confession: Let us turn towards God, and open our hearts to pour out any hurt and grief we might have, so that God can wipe away our tears and renew our hope.

Prayer of Confession: God, we confess that we are tightly hanging onto so much–that it is hard to let the Holy Spirit in. We feel like we need the perfect words or actions. We feel like we need to always be co-creating with you to get things right. We are afraid to stop. Afraid of what we will see when we rest. Give us the courage to rest. Tell us it’s ok to stop, remind us that the Holy Spirit will fill in all of the gaps. Grant us the trust we need we pray. (Silent Confession) Amen.

Assurance of Pardon: The Holy Spirit is here, filling our hearts anew, granting us all the mercy we need, so let us assure one another of the Good News: In Jesus Christ we are forgiven.

Suggested Rest Practices:
Make a Dream Journal
Make a Not To Do List, Rip it up or Burn it
Dismiss everyone to Take a walk/Quiet Sitting time for 10 minutes
Play with Playdo/Clay
Create a Grief Wall/Ribbon Weaving Symbolizing everything to let go of
Have everyone commit to one time they are going to rest that week
Share around the room/small groups/on paper a new rest practice they have started (Fit your needs to the extravert/introvert nature of your reality)
Go Outside and look at the Clouds

If you appreciate my work, please support my D. Min in Creative Writing. I am in my final year and raising money here: https://gofund.me/391febb1

Notes

“My uncle says the architects got rid of the front porches because they didn’t look well. But my uncle says they was merely rationalizing it; the real reason, hidden underneath, might be they didn’t want people sitting like that, doing nothing, rocking, talking; that was the wrong kind of social life. People talked too much. And they had time to think. So they ran off with the porches. And the gardens, too. Not many gardens any more to sit around in. And look at the furniture. No rocking chairs any more. They’re too comfortable. Get people up and running around” -Ray Bradbury; Book Farenheit 451

Art a man in a white beard, snooze-like, sitting on a porch. Photograph by Sonny Lee

People miss small talk in the Pandemic (and how that might be feeding into the violence of today): https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/27/opinion/coronavirus-small-talk.html, https://hbr.org/2021/03/remote-workers-need-small-talk-too, https://www.khaleejtimes.com/long-reads/the-big-power-of-small-talk, https://www.thestar.com/life/parent/opinion/2021/05/18/small-talk-is-the-glue-that-keeps-society-running-and-gossip-is-a-force-for-good-i-miss-both.html?rf (Google it, there are so MANY articles)

Rest is Resistance Week 5

Coffee Cup that says Your Worth is not defined by your productivity, artwork by France Corbel

What have you been told about your worth and existence?” p. 56
Isaiah 14:3-4
Psalm 62:1 In God alone my soul finds rest, for my deliverance comes from God, who alone is my rock, my salvation, my fortress: I will never be shaken. (Inclusive Bible)
Worth and Blessedness

Call to Worship
(Breathe in) I am born
(Breathe out) I deserve rest

Prayer of the Day
God
I am here
My birth
was not a Coincidence
It was in community
to be beloved, in the fabric.
But that does not mean that I always need to be active
Just as a baby is beloved, when they sleep in their parents arms
I am just as beloved, when I rest or play
as when I work
Help me remember that I pray,
Amen.

Call to Confession: Come, let us confess ourselves to our creator, who loved us into being.

Prayer of Confession: God, I confess I do not think of rest as a connectional time. I do not think as slumber as time spent with God, even though, the first thing you want humanity to do with you, was to stay and rest with you a while. I confess that I do not find other humans worth in how much Sabbath they take, full confession, we humans do not value one another by how good we are at resting and playing with each other. Help us God, to figure out spaces and ways to value and bless one another differently we pray. Amen.

Assurance of Pardon Hear the good news, Jesus sits with us, blesses us, and forgives us, let us rest in the good new: In Jesus Christ we are forgiven.

Suggested Rest Practices:
Read p. 130-131 Reclaiming Our Right to Rest
Read: “You can rest. You can shift. You can heal. You can resist. You can lay down right now. If you are in a safe space that would allow for you to lay down, please do so as you read. If it’s not safe to recline. just slow down your breathing. Visualize your favorite place to slumber and relax. Go there in your mind. May these rest moments multiply as you integrate more into your daily practice.”  p. 148
Journal all the ways to think of worth and Blessedness that are not about money: Community ties, all the ways one plays or rests, hobbies, all the interest one has, favorites colors, etc.
Renewal of Baptism: You are beloved and You deserve Rest
Make/Decorate Small Pillows
Gentle Stretching Practice


Shared: The Resistance Garden (a FB group I highly rec) Existennialmemes DON”T CHASE YOUR DREAMS! Humans are Persistence Predators. Follow your dreams at a sustainable pace, until they get tired and lie down.

If you appreciate my work, please support my D. Min in Creative Writing. I am in my final year and raising money here: https://gofund.me/391febb1

Notes

Week 2 Rest is Resistance

Week 2 “What does exhaustion look like for me?” p. 56
Hosea 5:15-6:6
Psalm 3:1-6 
Broken Humanity: Scarcity & Hate
(Notes: I am using these Biblical passages as “Dreamscapes” of letting go and saying ok, we do not have to do it all, God will take care of things, God will bind up the broken hearted, God will bring peace, God will defeat the enemies, God will build the communities, I can go to bed at night without completing the to do lists, while naming that exhaustion is easy to picture and rest is not)

Call to Worship
(Breathe in) I am here
(Breathe Out) I will be present

Prayer of the Day
Holy Spirit,
Be with us as we unentangle
the sources of our exhaustion
and try to find life giving practices
to do more than sustain–so that we might
thrive and be in community with one another
In Jesus Christ we pray. Amen.

Call to Confession: Jesus says my yoke is light, come to me all those who are heavy burdened, and lay your yokes at the feet of Jesus today through Confession.

Confession: God, we confess that we are so weary, that we do not know what it is like to be fully rested. We see children pass us by and say “I wish I had that energy.” However we confess, that we are also envious of their joy and freedom from responsibilities. Help us to find true soul-sustaining, life giving rest, the peace beyond understanding the Jesus promises, so that we can find that new way of being we pray. Amen.

Assurance of Pardon: Jesus Christ promises to make all things new, hold fast to that promise and know the Good News: In Jesus Christ we renewed and forgiven.

Suggested Rest Practices for Worship
Body Prayer https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QNl1O-5sfSI
P. 34 Body Scan breathing exercise
Sing Taize

Burnt Out, A Prayer

Notes

If you appreciate my work, please support my D. Min in Creative Writing. I am in my final year and raising money here: https://gofund.me/391febb1


@OhMiaGod I wish there was a word for “I love you, my spectacular beautiful friend. Unfortunately, I’m so exhausted I don’t have the energy to communicate. But I want to indicate that athough we’ve not spoken in some time, my love for you is undying and I am your eternal supporter.”

Rest is Resistance Week 1

Illustration of Pooh sitting among the Trees @A_AMilne “What I like doing best is Nothing,” said Christopher Robin. “How do you do Nothing?” asked Pooh, after he had wondered for a long tim. “IT means just going along, listening o all the things you can’t hear, and not bothering.” “Poh!” said Pooh. -A.A. Milne.

Week 1 “What would it feel like to be consistently rested?”  p. 56
Genesis 1:27-2:3
Psalm 46:10a
Come & Rest with Me
(I am using these Biblical passages to name that God commands us to Keep the Sabbath and the first thing God does when God creates us, is to just hang out with God, to rest and be with God. However, we demand work, creation and productivity out of each other, instead of breathing, care, community and doing nothing)

Call to Worship will be practiced with Breath Prayers: the hope will be that they can be a little deeper and longer as the sermon series goes on. Here is information about breath prayers that you can educate your congregation on through word or reading material https://www.asacredjourney.net/how-to-practice-breath-prayer/

Call to Worship (Breath Prayer)
(Breathe in) Be Still
(Breathe Out) and Know that I am God

Prayer of the Day
God invites us to rest
to spend time
to sit
to be still
the first invitation
before we move, spoke, thought
God said
Let us do nothing
together.
God Let us remember that,
as we practice Sabbath.

Call to Confession: Let us rest our burdens with God.

Confession: God, we confess that we are not good at resting. We do not even know how to do nothing. And, we confess, if it is difficult to do nothing by ourselves, it is even harder to do it together. Yet your invitation–to be still, in community, is beautiful and daring. Help us to hear it, hold it, and savor it; not with guilt but with sacredness we pray. Amen

Assurance of Pardon: Hear the Good News: God is always awaiting to restore us, so we can proclaim the Good News: In Jesus Christ we are forgiven.

Suggested Rest Practices for worship
Color Together: Benefits of Coloring, Spiritual Coloring Thoughts
Close Your Eyes and Do Nothing together for 30 seconds
Do another Breath Prayer (like the one above)
P. 34 Body Scan breathing exercise (might be better week 2)
Taize: Taize Community, Meditative Taize Singing
Stair Step Breathing: https://www.pesi.com/blog/details/1885/coping-ahead-of-anxiety-with-stair-step-breathing
Yoga

Notes

If you appreciate my work, please support my D. Min in Creative Writing. I am in my final year and raising money here: https://gofund.me/391febb1

@iconawrites “Are you ‘burned out” or are you having a reasonable reaction to a never-ending barrage of bad news which you can do very little about.
(Tricia Hersey recommends Social Media breaks, and taking care of your full self and remaining rooted int community over trying to save the world)