Dear Ones,

It is a beautiful time of year here in Yolo County, and we have much to celebrate in our local community. At the same time, when we broaden our view, the situation appears much more troubling. Genocide, war, species loss: the bad news is loud, real, and insistent. 

I feel so strongly the words of the Psalm 4: “Many are saying, ‘Oh, that we might see better times!’ Lift up the light of your countenance upon us, O God.”

It might seem self-indulgent, even shallow, to remind us again of the importance of rest during times of stress and anxiety. But remember, all of life has a rhythm. Our breath and our heartbeats remind us of that. Poet John O’Donohue once expressed it by saying, “It is the holes in the lace that make it beautiful.”

Rest is much more than just napping (although I do love a good nap!). Rest, to repeat what Tricia Hersey says in her book Rest is Resistance, can be anything that connects the body and the mind. It can be singing, or reading a poem, or going for a walk, or flexing your creative muscles. The Irish call it “keeping body and soul together.”

I hope that St. Martin’s can be for you a place of rest–not because we avoid hard topics but because we face them together, in a space of solidarity and compassion. The more we take the time to be together, to get to know each other well, to laugh and cry and eat and pray together, the stronger we will be as individuals and as a community.

Blessings,

Pamela+

*A message from 4/19/2024*