By Lilly Lewin,
Spent the last few days curating worship and being a part of the Episcopal Young Adult Campus Ministry Conference via Zoom. Our theme was based on Matthew 11:28-30 (The Message).
“Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.”
Matthew 11: 28-30 (The Message)
DAY 1: We focused on the invitation from Jesus in this verse: COME TO ME...
Are we willing to RECEIVE and OPEN this INVITATION from Jesus? To actually follow Jesus and actually REST?
Come to Me
DAY 2: We focused on the BURDENS we’ve been carrying this year and our need to take the time to acknowledge them and actually GRIEVE and PROCESS these things.
The Rev. Dr. Altagracia Pérez-Bullard talked to us about the “LAYERS of PANDEMIC”… Covid-19, political division, racial injustice, and the realization for many of us that our country is a lot more broken than we thought. And the cracks we all see, the systems of inequity starkly revealed by Covid in health care, education, child care etc. There is SO MUCH TO GRIEVE!
The Rt. Rev. Diana Akiyama invited us to put all these things in the COVID WHEELBARROW and allow Jesus to have them and carry them for us.
covid wheelbarrow
Today was DAY 3: and our theme was THE UNFORCED RHYTHMS of GRACE…
We had the honor to hear from Presiding Bishop Michael Curry who reminded us that our main job is to FOLLOW JESUS! To love God and love others, and love ourselves! He and Rev. Blake Woods talked about Peter walking on the water and how the Church is like the Boat… it feels safe and we want to stay in the familiar, but we need to get out and FOLLOW JESUS and keep our eyes on him! We only sink when we look at the waves instead of at Jesus! And The Rev. Becca Stevens reminded us that we don’t have to do this work alone! WE HAVE COMMUNITY! We even need community to help us REST! A member of one of the small group times I was a part of says we all need to find a Jewish friend who has a real sabbath practice to help us develop our own practice of REST! I closed our time with a Celebration of Bubbles…. Actually blowing bubbles as I prayed…
We are invited by Jesus to… to COME TO HIM.
To Draw the Circle Wide!
To let Jesus have our heavy loads.
To do our own work and pursue justice.
To take time to heal, so we can help others heal.
We are invited by Jesus to… Grieve and Mourn. He promises us comfort and he weeps with us.
We are invited to remember that God holds all our tears.
We are invited by Jesus to Rest and Restore and find Rhythm again!
Celebrate the invitation to come to Jesus!
Celebrate the gift of REST!
Celebrate that God holds all our tears and weeps with us!
Celebrate the opportunity to seek justice and healing!
Celebrate the wide circle!
Celebrate the invitation to hold hands with Jesus… His Yoke is LOVE!
Celebrate not having to do it by yourself! We have Jesus with us and we have community!
Celebrate the power and refreshment of the Holy Spirit and
Embrace the Joy of God’s unforced Rhythms of Grace!
We celebrate today!
In the Name of the Father
The Son & The Holy Spirit
And all God’s people said Amen.
I invite you to take the time to REST and PROCESS this summer… to not overfill the calendar just because you can! To embrace and learn the UNFORCED RHYTHMS of GRACE! Take time this weekend to plan and process what rest would look like for you and your family, you and your housemates, or your community this summer! How different would we be in September if we all took the time to REST?
©lillylewin and freerangeworship.com
Sacred Summer Kit
Check out the GIFT OF A SACRED SUMMER and start with the practice of REST! also check out last week’s FreerangeFriday to begin your REST PRACTICE!
We also just released our Making Time for a Sacred Summer Online Retreat course available for 180 days access for only $24.99! More information and details on our product page.
Making Time for a Sacred Summer 2