Refreshment doesn’t come from chewing mint gum.
It doesn’t come from taking a polar bear plunge.
Refreshment isn’t anything you fake.
But we all need it.
In an article entitled “The Relationally Grounded Pastor“, Eugene Peterson wrote:
- “I’m like a puppy dog. Somebody throws a Frisbee and says, “Get it” and I run and get it, and come back to do it again. “Fetch” was the one word I know really well. I did a lot of fetching, but I never learned how to sit. Sit.”
If you’re like me, you feel like that from time to time.
I can’t shake this deep need to just slow down.
I want a place that is ageless. Brandless.
My eyes want to find a space where there isn’t a commercial.
Because my soul can’t keep up with it.
Something inside of me is begging for me to clear my plate not to add more to it.
To calm my mind and let the silt in the river settle – clearing the water of what I do not need to see – and gradually, slowly things come into focus.
It could be that we’ve unknowingly bought into the image of ministry that measures the height of our peaks rather than the steadiness of our pace. Onward and upward. Onward and upward to…something. Odd, isn’t it? We don’t really know what we’re reaching for, but it the answer always seems like “more.” More of what? We don’t know. Just more of something.
Bigger.
Faster.
Stronger.
Louder.
Farther.
More.
I have a suspicion that the kingdom of God is none of these things.
Discipleship should be a steady walk – a paced journey measured in faithfulness. Not a series of manic highs and lows – mountaintop after mountaintop – a frenetic press and push; measured in what shape we manage to drag ourselves out of the valley to the next vista.
The deepest parts of our souls can’t be touched in a hurry. Sure, we can touch the isolated, incidental stuff: I can wave to you. I can smile, I can even ask how you’re doing and wait for couple seconds, and nod.
But the most humanizing elements of ministry ask that we slow down.
If we neglect our pace, we’ll slowly start to evaluate the humanizing elements of life through a distorted lens. But if we give attention to our pace (more than our performance), we’ll move back into God’s rhythms for the ministry He has given us.
Building pace into your life could mean taking Sabbath more seriously.
Pace might mean incorporating disciplines like fasting or silence into your life.
It might even mean taking an extended break from ministry.
Whatever “pace” looks like in your life, don’t neglect it.
