So many of the messages in our culture glamorize the workweek—the long hours and the constant access to emails and phone messages. The transition to home offices during COVID exacerbated the already flimsy boundaries we had in place to divide our work lives from our home lives. The 9-5 workdays have all but disappeared. Of course, a younger generation has popped up to make demands on employers that would have been unheard of at any other time. The term work/life balance has started to creep into our lexicon, even as we consider an uncertain economic recovery. Inflation, interest rates, supply chain disruptions, unemployment—these are the constant concerns we face in our lives.
But what about fun? When do we carve out time to be free of obligations to not only our work but our home lives, which often demand an equal amount of energy? Do you take the time to enjoy the fruits of the labor you put into your workweek?
So often, we lose sight of what it’s all for. We work, stress, and strive until we collapse into exhaustion or illness. We spend so much time focusing on the work—planting the seeds, nurturing the earth, watering the fertile grounds. We do this when we get advanced degrees, land our jobs, connect with key contacts in our professions, build relationships, send emails, and outline strategic plans. And work, work, work toward some end.
While our culture may celebrate this hard work characteristic, God does not. You can find examples of this in scripture: This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it (Psalm 118:24). And you can find it quite literally in nature when the seeds we sow in the spring bloom into bountiful harvests in the fall. God wants us to rejoice in the splendor of the gifts he has provided and in each other. Autumn is the time when we slow down and reap what we sow, as the earth itself exhales a great breath and rests until springtime.
Rejoice with us this weekend! Join us as we celebrate the seeds we’ve sewn at our annual fall festival this Saturday, October 15th, 11:30 AM – 3:30 PM. Crafts, games, food, and fun will be in abundance! We continue the celebration the next day, Sunday, October 16th, with worship at 8:00 AM, 10:15 AM, and 6:00 PM. A special commemoration will take place at our 10:15 AM worship when we dedicate new sanctuary banners in memory of Rev. Patricia Large, our congregation’s first child to enter the ordained ministry.
Blessings,
Pastor Marc
