Sabbath. Warfare. Balance.

Change the Game

I learned the threads of this years ago at a conference. It now comes together as whole cloth.

Imagine a large bowl, holding 100% of your energy. We are colanders instead of bowls. Learn to be 100% in the space that you’re in. When you work, be 100% present. When you rest, be 100% at rest.

Find time each day for silence and stillness. There is a time to be quiet. Quiet and unafraid. We fear empty, as though something is lacking. We fill everything with junk and noise, and yet feel empty. 

Let’s stop.  We’re doing it all wrong.

What if we’re not supposed to pour out all we have before restoring our portion. What if what we’re supposed to give is our overflow?

We’re doing it all wrong.

So many people confess that they are weary. It’s not just the coronavirus. It’s more than just being tired of sheltering-in-place. It is the legacy of battle weariness that those new to the fight just now feel. It is realizing that,

Rodney King was beaten 30 years ago,

Trayvon Martin would turn 25 this year,

Tamir Rice might be just have chosen a college, and

Neither Breeona Taylor nor Ahmaud Arbery will ever celebrate another birthday.

It took 400 years for America to become this broken. It will take some time to make it right. Be we cannot be ready for warfare if we do not protect ourselves.

Self-Care for Warriors

Sleep when you are weary. Sleep when you can.

Feed your body like it’s a thing you love.

Hold. Be held.

Laugh, because warfare requires a sense of humor.

Say the words. George Floyd called his Mama because he needed her. It didn’t matter that she wasn’t there.

Fight for your joy like your life depends on it. Because it does.

Be naughty. Mischief is good for the soul. Even Jesus laughed. Shoot, Jesus is laughing at summa y’all right now. Hear it?

A Closing Benediction, in the Words of Dominique Gilliard,

May God bless you with holy anger at white supremacy, police brutality, and racial oppression, so that you may tirelessly work for justice, freedom, and peace among all people.

May God bless you with the gift of tears to shed with those who suffer from systemic racism, xenophobia, and anti-blackness, so that you may sacrificially reach out to them in love, learn how to stand in solidarity with them, and work alongside them to transform broken systems and structures.

May God bless us with enough foolishness to believe that we really CAN make a difference in this world, so that we are able, with God’s grace, to help the Church do what others claim cannot be done: truly become an interconnected Body, where when one part suffers, every part suffers with it.

Mr. Gilliard contemporized this classic Franciscan prayer for this kairos moment

Omnipotent God, Our African Mother, the pillow upon which I kneel to offer my daily petitions. . . In Your Mercy, hear our prayers.