Theologian Martin Marty views simplicity as a gift “rooted in the very heart of God.” Yet like all of God’s gifts, simplicity gets buried in our human-created to-do lists and activities. The things that keep us busy often have more to do with our own and the world’s unresolved, unhealed pain than with God’s love and grace. For me, the gift in caring for myself, the entirety of me, is about beginning small. Not with a wonderful and expensive facial that consumer culture tries to sell me, but with the recognition that the gift of simple, consistent care resides within me.
Embracing the gift of simplicity in self-care means renaming many small, blessed moments of re-booting that I’m almost unaware of, such as putting my feet up for a few minutes before beginning my daily tasks each morning. It means acknowledging the feeling of a warm teacup on palms and fingers already tired of writing by mid-morning. It’s about choosing to write near a window so I might watch a flitting bird or track a cloud floating by.
This message is excerpted from “Simple moments of self-care” by Jennifer Ohman-Rodriguez in the January/February 2021 Gather magazine. Today we commemorate Elisabeth Fedde, deaconess, 1921.
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