so tired of it all

​I don't want to watch the news.  I don't want to read the papers or magazines.  I don't want to see most commercials.  I have a difficult time reading Facebook posts.  I am weary.  I am over-stimulated.  When our kids would get over-stimulated we would swaddle them, and put them in a dark, quiet room.  When they were a bit older we'd have them run around the house a number of times.  Some people put their kids in time-out.  The point of each being to distract them from whatever is over-stimulating them, and let them focus either on something else, or on nothing.  That's what I need, something to take my mind off the elections, the explosions, the shootings, the lying, the arrogance, the carelessness for the needs of others, the unwillingness to do one's job, the homelessness, the joblessness, the hunger, the climate, the extinctions...

Scripture tells us that when God was finished creating the heavens and the earth, God rested.  The Gospels remind us that fairly often Jesus would get away: to a quiet place alone, to his own house or the house of friends, to places in the hills, or a boat out on the lake.  He would get away from the people and their needs, from the Romans and their demands, from the religious authorities and their politics...  He had to get away to re-set himself, to remind himself of who he was and what he was there to do.  He needed to just breathe, and enjoy the creation around him.  Time away to recharge, to relax, to re-energize, to take a step back and re-evaluate.  Just as for Jesus, it will all be there when I get back, but for a little while, all that exists is me, and my communication with God.  I encourage you to join me, separately.  Take a break.  Renew your spirit.  Get back in touch with God.  Breathe.

Loving God, we confess that at times the needs of the world, the weight of the world completely overwhelms us.  There is more to do than we can possibly do.  There is more that needs our attention than we have attention to give it.  There are new learning curves, new needs popping up in our communities, new decisions that must be made, and we feel the need to fix it all.  Help us to set boundaries, and we realize we cannot do it all.  We cannot address it all.  We cannot fix it all.  We know we are to be your hands and feet on the earth, but we need your guidance as to which things we need to focus on, and which we need to leave to someone else.  Give us grace to pull away, withdraw, regroup, and return ready to serve your people once again....Amen