Pastor’s Corner: Tired?

May 13, 2020

Are you tired of all this? I would guess that you are.

Well, so am I.

People get tired of loss and uncertainty and anxiety. Our bodies have filled up with the energy of a crisis, but we’ve had relatively little that we can do with all that. I know some have turned their efforts to baking things, creating things, fixing things, and making things. I know others who have just found their limbs trembling to wash the adrenalin away.

All that physical exertion – whether in exercise or in feeling jittery – leaves us tired.

So does the emotional strain. Human beings aren’t made to feel the same way for a long period of time. Yearnings fade, and so do fears. We have had to maintain a sense of caution now for much longer than we are equipped to handle. We have struggled to maintain connections by phone, card, and video conversation. Let’s face it: the best of these is a poor second best when we really just want to be together.

I wish I had a word of advice that would fix it all. I do not. I merely offer this assurance: If you come to the end of the day and feel exhausted, but that you haven’t accomplished anything to make you tired, don’t be afraid. These are tiring times. These are wearing times. These are exhausting times. It would be surprising if you did not feel tired.

Call a friend. Take a nap. Read some Scripture. Pray a prayer. Eat something refreshing. Let some tears fall.

None of these will fill you full of energy again, but they will help you get through.

With aloha,

Pastor Eric

The image of Christ praying in the garden with his disciples asleep in the foreground is by Carlo Crivelli, ca. 1468 – The Yorck Project (2002) 10.000 Meisterwerke der Malerei (DVD-ROM), distributed by DIRECTMEDIA Publishing GmbH. ISBN: 3936122202., Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=149829.