Rest as Resistance

MIKAELA LANGDON

Every Sunday at Princeton UMC, we begin the service by repeating “I am enough because God is enough.” It may not seem like it but in the capitalist and success-driven world we live in, this is a radical statement.

Society is full of messages that we are not enough as we are. From weight loss commercials and beauty products to standardized testing and grind culture, we are constantly made to feel that success is just out of our reach. Writer and artist Tricia Hersey has dedicated her life and career to combating this messaging. She began The Nap Ministry as a form of resistance to a society devaluing the inherent sacredness of our souls and bodies. The website for The Nap Ministry states “We believe our bodies are portals. They are sites of liberation, knowledge, and invention that are waiting to be reclaimed and awakened by the beautiful interruptions of brutal systems that sleep and dreaming provide.” This is more than just an opinion for Hersey; it is a movement.

The idea of rest as resistance is not new. It can be found time and again in the history of oppressed people. Hersey (2022) says in her book, Rest is Resistance: A Manifesto :

For many, rest has been a way of not just surviving but actively rejecting the oppressive systems that see them as less than human.

It is easy in today’s world to see rest as a luxury or reward but this is in direct contrast to the message of enoughness that we recite each Sunday morning. Just by existing as beloved children of God, we are worthy of rest. In her book, Hersey acknowledges that a lot of people see this as easier said than done. She advises, “You can [find] ten minutes at your desk, thirty minutes of weekend napping, or one minute of resting your eyes. Keep pondering and making space for the time to detox from technology…All these things are a form of resistance” (p. 30).

Resisting grind culture to make room for rest does not come naturally for a lot of us. It goes against the very systems that raised us. Start small. Take a few minutes every day to sit outside or close your eyes and take a few deep breaths. Remember there is nothing you can do to diminish your worthiness. You are enough.

02 Death and Worship

“‘Worship

How does this resonate with you and your experience? In what ways does it stretch and invite you?

*Marva Dawn, quoted in: Norman Wirzba, Living the Sabbath, Brazos Press, 2006, p.164.

03 Work as Love

Have you ever been so absorbed in your work (in whatever ways you labor, paid or unpaid), that you forgot you were working? There’s something holy and divine about losing yourself within a purpose greater than yourself. It’s a taste of full, abundant life, and the sabbath aims of joy, delight, and peace mark the experience. It’s a sharing in God’s desire for all creation, and God’s love flows through you into the world. Take a few minutes. Recall such an experience and give thanks. Consider what conditions might make such experiences 04

Recall or read through the Great Thanksgiving communion liturgy. You can find one at https://bit.ly/3YHahTB (or scan the QR code.) Imagine yourself at a meal with Jesus. Gather others around this table in your meditative dream space. What is Jesus saying and doing that you need him to do? That you all need him to do? Play through the whole scene. How do you feel as you hear the words, taste the bread and wine or juice? Allow yourself to receive Jesus’s companionship and that of the others gathered with you. How might you offer this companionship to someone “in the flesh” this week?

05 Weak Flesh, Wise Flesh

Notice the blessing in your body’s brokenness and need for sabbath rest today. As best as you can, give your body what it needs today.

06

Footwashing

Fill a basin with water. Get a towel. With their permission, wash the feet of someone you love. As you do so, hear again Jesus’s commandment to love one another.

07 The Cross

Find, create, or draw a cross. Hold it in your hands or position yourself in front of it. Take a few centering breaths. Just be with this symbol of God’s love for a time. Recall the story of Jesus’s passion, the love that brought him to the cross. Let the cross be a reminder of the lengths God will go to love you, to heal your brokenness, to delight in you, to restore you to life abundant.

08

Empty

Sit in silence. Just be. Invite an experience of emptiness. There is no right or wrong way to do this. There is no accomplishing, failing, or succeeding. Try not to worry if your mind wanders. Don’t let boredom, discomfort, or uncertainty distract you from a time of being and emptying. Try this for 5, 20, or even 60 minutes. Just be.

09 The Eighth Day

Because the first Easter happened on a Sunday morning, Christians worship every Sunday, each one a mini-Easter. The early church fathers also called Sunday the 8th day. Thinking of the seven days of creation, Sunday is both the first day of the week and also the first day of the New Creation inaugurated by Jesus. Easter, and every Sunday, opens up possibilities for new life, for the fullness of life, for joy and delight, for salvation and wholeness. What is being made new in you? Rejoice today. Delight in God’s presence and unending grace.