Even the pastor I’ve followed for years has surprised me with his reactions. His words sharp and angry and accusatory. Belittling. Mean-spirited. I’ve stopped opening most of his emails. It hurts my heart to read them these days.
I expected harsh words, criticisms, even outlandish exaggerations for the extreme believers on both ends of the spectrum, but I’ve been surprised by how much they’ve trickled in to more mainstream comments. On those days when some of the comments just become too hard to bear, writings like this from Kate Bowler bring me peace.

For when you need a gentle day

Kate Bowler

 

God, I need a gentle day,
a respite from the strident voices
and the attention economy,
problems I can’t solve.

I need a break.
God, shelter me awhile.

Blessed are we who come to you
just as we are,
asking to be gathered, hidden,
and held,
shielded for a time
from things too hard for us,
too heavy to hold for this long.

God, give us grace for one whole day
of gentle turning,
of turning away from worry
toward restful action,
of turnign from the troubles
of yesterday or tomorrow.

Blessed are we,
when the unsolvable problem
comes to mind again,
to turn from it, just for now.
When checking the news
one more time seems a good idea,
to let the hands rest and the computer screen go dark.

When the muscles in the body
speak their tight reminders,
to listen to them long enough
to give them release,
to gentle up the breathing
and lower the eyes,
to let ourselves be small again,
wrapped up, and lifted into your arms,
for long enough until
the stirrings of enoughness come –
enough energy to tend
just the little space
that is within reach today.