Brief & Fleeting
How does rest give you strength for justice work?
Psalm 144:3–4
YHWH, what are we,
that you should care for us?
What is humankind,
that you should think of us?
We are like a breath;
our days are like a fleeting shadow.
Our lives on this earth are brief. In this Scripture, they are described as a breath or a fleeting shadow. And yet our culture (shaped by Capitalism) teaches productivity above all else. It’s easy to get caught up in working ourselves to exhaustion because we deem it as meaningful to be productive. And that belief can be easy to bring into justice work.
Scripture also teaches that rest is important. It can be uncomfortable to rest when there’s so much work to do. When it feels like the world is falling apart around us.
Yet, on more than one occasion, we read in Scripture how Jesus rested. So should we.
We're designed to work as a community where we can take turns resting and laboring, supporting one another through seasons of action and renewal. This honors both our human limitations and our divine calling to justice.
When you think about your life being short like the psalm says, how does that change the way you rest? How does rest give you strength for justice work?