Instructions:
If you have twenty minutes…
Read Ashley Wilcox’s reflection on the ebb and flow of ministry over time and a call for self-care and rest. Walking the Labyrinth – Ashley Wilcox. (2011) “And when I keep my focus on God, my entire life feels like a labyrinth: although I may sometimes feel like I am walking in the wrong direction, I am always on the path to the center.” Reproduced with permission from Friends Journal.
If you have an hour…
Listen to this On Carrying a Concern podcast (Episode 07), where Benigno Sanchez-Eppler speaks to the role community played in his ministry / living into a life directed by Spirit. (Podcast length: 1 hour 20 minutes) If you’d rather read a transcript of this podcast, you can find it here.
Spiritual Practices
Journal prompt: When have I felt despair? How is Spirit calling me to self-care? What support do I need from my community?
Queries for Reflection and Discussion
- How can discernment and worship enable us to take times of rest so that we can be patterns of loving change, rather than examples of exhaustion and despair?
- Given that the road ahead is long, how do we sustain the loving and grounded qualities of Spirit-Informed action, for ourselves as individuals and communities, over time and over generations?
- How do we know what piece of the larger task is ours to do, since we cannot do everything?
- How do we avoid burnout? Specifically, what is the role of community and Quaker meetings?
