by Rev. Sean Amato

Greetings from the Pastor’s Desk – or should I say, the Pastor’s Couch: the place I’ve been sitting, on and off, for the past week and a half! If you weren’t aware, I’ve been fairly sick for the past two weeks. Like
many people, I tend to try and work through sickness – not realizing, of course, that working when I’m in real need of healing does a doubledose of damage to my body and morale. Having grown up a Millennial, I
absorbed my parents’ dedication to work – and, too, their aversion to rest in lieu of productivity. I’m sure you absorbed similar values. No wonder we’re all so tired.

Let’s admit: it’s hard to rest, isn’t it? Especially when there’s so much going on in the life of the church! It’s hard to rest, even as the summer heat beats down upon us; even as the heavy world surrounds us. But
whether our busy world likes it or not, rest is an essential part of our healing – and if we’re not equipped to take care of ourselves, to rest up and regain our well-being, how can we take care of this world? Rest
is a Christian ethic, friends – it’s not only a faith practice, but a goal for good Christians.

In his summons to us in Matthew, Christ invites us directly to rest: “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest”; he asks us to supplant our burdens with his gentle and patient love, and to afford ourselves time to breathe. In John, Christ equates rest with peace and calls us to consider them co-equal: “Peace I leave with you, my friends; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid. ” (Close readers will recognize our service’s closing hymn!) For us to be in sync with the lessons of our Jesus, rest is requisite; for us to be functional as the hands and feet of God, we are called to lay down our burdens on occasion. And if you’re looking for a sign to lay down your burdens, here’s one from your pastor: if you’re ailing, rest; if you’re tired, rest. If you have some extra energy, help to carry others’ burdens; help them with their weight. But if you aren’t, then…rest!

There’s a poem I’ve ended service with, on occasion, and I even ended a “Pastor’s Desk” piece with this poem in December of 2024 – another time of hard work and exhaustion for the people of God. For those of you running ragged in this summertime season, those working through sickness, those whose fatigue is only matched by their stubbornness (myself included), I ask you to pause and consider Rob Bell’s “Walk, Don’t Run.”

Walk, don’t run. That’s it. Walk, don’t run.

Slow down, breathe deeply, and open your eyes –
because there’s a whole world right here within this one.
The bush didn’t suddenly catch fire, it’s been burning the
whole time.
Moses is simply moving slowly enough to see it. And
when he does, he takes off his sandals. Not because the
ground has suddenly become holy, but because he’s just
now becoming aware that the ground has been holy the
whole time.
Efficiency is not God’s highest goal for your life; neither is
busy-ness, or how many things you can get done in one
day, or speed, or even success.
But walking, which leads to seeing, now that’s something.
That’s an invitation for every one of us today, and every
day, in every conversation, interaction, event, and
moment: to walk, not run. And in doing so, to see a whole
world right here within this one.

I offer you a hopeful blessing, my friends, one drawn from the Book of Numbers – one I’m sure you’ve heard or read, or maybe even said. “May God bless you and keep you; may God’s face shine upon you, and may He be gracious to you. May the Lord lift up His countenance upon you, and give you peace. ” Peace and rest, my friends. Amen!

Pastor Sean