“Come to me,
all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens,
and I will give you rest.”
–Jesus–
(Matthew 11:28)
Ahhhh…rest….
Who among us doesn’t need rest??
We are all weary.
Some of us might only say we’re a little tired…
Some of us might acknowledge that we’re pretty worn out…
Some of us might go so far as to say, actually, we’re exhausted…
Some of us might be drained beyond words,
on the verge of being totally depleted…
Wherever we fall on that continuum, we are all weary.
And we are all carrying heavy burdens.
For some of us those burdens might be externally apparent–
Perhaps family or work or church or other responsibilities…
Perhaps visible health concerns, known losses, or shared struggles…
For others of us our burdens might be internally held–
Perhaps hidden grief or secret shame or unspoken despair…
Perhaps unacknowledged addiction or abuse,
or long-buried resentment or rage…
For some of us–perhaps most of us–the burdens are of both types…
Whether externally apparent or internally held,
we are all carrying heavy burdens.
So what do we do? How do we get the rest that Jesus promises?
How do we let him lighten our load,
ease our burdens,
and tend to our souls?
That’s a question each of us has to answer for ourselves.
What do you do to allow space in your life for soul-tending?
What do you do to grant Jesus access to your weariness and burdens?
How do you respond to his invitation,
“Come to me…and I will give you rest?”
One of the ways I respond, when I recognize that my spirit needs tending, is by getting away to stillness and solitude. It may only be for an hour, for a hike in the nearby hills, or–when I’m both very much in need and very lucky (and the planets are in alignment!), it may be for twenty-four hours [or, as it turns out, forty-eight!], for an overnight stay/silent retreat at a nearby monastery (which is where I am as I write this, as the Our Lady of Guadalupe Abbey in Pecos–the picture below is from last night).
We are all weary, and we are all carrying heavy burdens,
and our souls all need tending.
“Come to me…and I will give you rest,” Jesus promises.
How do you respond?
Peace, and rest for our weary souls, be with us all.
Deb