Hello Genesee Valley and Mountain View Districts!  It is two weeks before Lent begins as I write this newsletter article. I am grateful the daylight is longer. I am grateful for the songs of the birds. I am grateful for each season of the church. I am grateful the Bishop’s Retreat, titled “Thrive” focused on our health.  For any one of us to be healthy we must take seriously Sabbath and rest. For me Lent is a perfect time to focus on Sabbath, rest, prayer, and reflection.

“Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your male or female servant, nor your animals, nor any foreigner residing in your towns. For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore, the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.” Exodus 20:8-11

Rest and Sabbath. Sabbath and Rest. What makes it so challenging to stop working and really rest from our daily schedules. The presumption in our culture is, the busier you are the more productive you will be. If you are not busy, then you may be perceived as lazy.

The reality is we can become so exhausted that we are no longer productive. We make mistakes in our exhaustion, our tempers become short, our attitudes become negative, our relationships and families suffer, and our emotional and physical well-being suffers with headaches, pains, high blood pressure, and gastro-intestinal disturbances.  

Our journey through and coming out of the pandemic has led to exhaustion. The time is overdue for rest and sabbath. I thank you church and pastors for the amazing ways you have been in ministry and continue to be in ministry, reaching out with the love of God found only in Jesus Christ. Churches I encourage you to make sure your pastors are taking time for rest (taking their full vacation time) and sabbath. 

“Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. On it you shall not do any work.”

“Why Sabbath?

United Methodists do not mandate the practice of Sabbath on the seventh day. But United Methodists do call one another to practices associated with Sabbath in Judaism.

Worship: The General Rules call for Christians to gather regularly for “the public worship of God,” as Jewish people do each Sabbath. Our United Methodist membership vows of “prayers” and “presence” point to regular participation in gathered worship on the Lord’s Day.

Trust: God set a life-giving model for all when God stopped and let the creation simply be. Having a regular practice of stopping our work entirely reflects and builds our trust in God, in others, and in the value of the work we have done.

Rest: United Methodists value the practice of rest and note, “Failure to exercise or to rest and relax adequately is also injurious to health." (Health and Wholeness)” From UMC.org and what we believe.

God calls us to regular times of rest and Sabbath. During these times we can pray, read scripture, participate in worship, growing closer to God, and becoming deeper and stronger disciples of Jesus.

Over the season of Lent, I would encourage all of us to regular rest and sabbath. Below you will find the Twenty-third Psalm in two different translations and the lyrics to the hymn “In the Bleak Midwinter.” Take time to rest, reflect and pray the Psalms and the hymn. May God renew your body, mind, and soul through needed times of rest and sabbath. Sabbath and rest.

Psalm 23 King James Version

The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters. He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me. Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou annointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

Psalm 23 The Message

God, my shepherd!  I don’t need a thing. You have bedded me down in lush meadows, you find me quiet pools to drink from. True to your word, you let me catch my breath and send me in the right direction. Even when the way goes through Death Valley, I’m not afraid when you walk at my side.

Your trusty shepherd’s crook makes me feel secure. You serve me a six-course dinner right in front of my enemies. You revive my drooping head; my cup brims with blessing. Your beauty and love chase after me every day of my life. I’m back home in the house of God for the rest of my life.

UM Hymn 221 In the Bleak Midwinter

1 In the bleak midwinter frosty wind made moan, earth stood hard as iron, water like a stone: snow had fallen, snow on snow, snow on snow, in the bleak midwinter, long ago.

2 Our God, heaven cannot hold him, nor earth sustain; heaven and earth shall flee away when he comes to reign: in the bleak midwinter a stable place sufficed the Lord God Almighty, Jesus Christ.

3 Angels and archangels may have gathered there, cherubim and seraphim thronged the air, but only his mother, in her maiden bliss, worshiped the Beloved with a kiss.

4 What can I give him, poor as I am? If I were a shepherd, I would bring a lamb, if I were a wise man I would do my part, yet what I can I give him, give my heart.

With peace and gentleness,

Suzanne