As we approach our summer break in the worship schedule, I hope that all of us can experience these summer months as an invitation to rest, to breathe, and to trust that the Spirit continues to move even in quieter seasons of our lives.

This program year has been full of prayers spoken, songs lifted, dynamic community activities, and hopes carried together. Now, we enter a season of pause.  And this pause is not emptiness. It is intentional. It is needed. It is sacred.

We often move through our days carrying expectations. We carry the weight and feel a need to always do more–to be productive, to stay busy. Rest, then, becomes an act of resistance against a culture that tells us that our worth is tied to what we produce. Rest says, “You are enough, just as you are.”

Rest is grace. It is unearned, undeserved, and yet deeply needed. It gives us space to listen for God in new ways: in the laughter of loved ones, the stillness of a summer evening, a refreshing breeze off the water.  It is a gift we give to ourselves and one another.

Rest is also holy. Even God paused in creation. This was not because God was tired, but because God took the time to delight in all that had been made.  We, too, are called to that ministry of appreciation. We are called to trust that the Spirit continues Her work in us, even when we step back. Especially when we step back.

So as our formal worship pauses, know that worship continues in the way you rest, care for your soul, and show love to the people around you.  We will return together soon: renewed, ready, restored, and energized for another great program year. 

Until then, may you find peace in the slowness, and may your rest be deep, healing, and holy.

Happy Summer,

–Rev. Dominic