{"id":431,"date":"2014-01-23T04:06:53","date_gmt":"2014-01-23T04:06:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/beta.dminlgp.com\/?p=431"},"modified":"2014-08-12T23:21:37","modified_gmt":"2014-08-12T23:21:37","slug":"when-caring-hurts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/when-caring-hurts\/","title":{"rendered":"When Caring Hurts"},"content":{"rendered":"

I have a good friend named Marilyn.\u00a0 Marilyn is one of the kindest and most gentle humans I know.\u00a0 For years Marilyn has worked as a message therapist.\u00a0 In fact, one of the best I know.\u00a0 In her free time she cares for a significant HIV community in our local area. \u00a0Her passion always inspires me.\u00a0 \u00a0While off duty from her practice, you can bet that Marilyn is tending to and caring for the needs of the sick.\u00a0 Often, messaging frail dying souls who most often have been written off by society.\u00a0 It is truly inspiring.\u00a0 Yet, every time I talk with my good friend, she is simply exhausted.\u00a0 When I suggest taking a break, she often responds with a litany of, \u201cIf I don\u2019t, who will, and how are they\u2026.\u201d.\u00a0 Well, you fill in the blank.\u00a0 Marilyn is amazing, yet she struggles giving herself permission to rest.<\/strong>\u00a0 I fear she is on the edge of burnout.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

This past week while reading Active Hope: How To Face the Mess We\u2019re in without Going Crazy by Joanna Macy and Chris Johnstone, I was struck by the concept that personal energy and enthusiasm can be classified as a renewable energy.\u00a0 Alongside of this concept, I was also reminded that most use their energy and enthusiasm in the opposite fashion.\u00a0 Primarily as a limited resource.\u00a0 While studying this concept five key strategies emerged, yet one in particular moved me.\u00a0 This key strategy for maintaining energy and enthusiasm\u00a0 was, “Seeing success with new eyes and savoring it.”<\/strong>\u00a0 The following are three practical convictions I experienced when contemplating this strategy.<\/p>\n

The One\u2026\u00a0<\/strong> Could you be happy with a church or ministry of one?\u00a0 Somehow, many of us have attached production, amounts and the thought of not having enough to our own fragile egos.\u00a0 Yet, while we strive for more, like an actor playing the part in a\u00a0 grand illusion, we drain the very energy from our own soul.\u00a0 In doing so we give to many, rather than just a few.\u00a0 Why is it we are more willing to give little bits of ourselves to so many, rather than most of ourselves to just one?<\/p>\n

Slowing To See\u2026<\/strong>\u00a0 When was the last time you slowed, savored and delighted in the presence of another?\u00a0 I\u2019ve heard it said, \u201cIf we slow to see others, this is reflective of how we slow to see God.\u201d\u00a0 Similar to Brother Lawrence, who spent much of his time working in a monastery kitchen.\u00a0 There surrounded by food and pots, Brother Lawrence discovered that circumstances don\u2019t determine God\u2019s proximity.\u00a0 It didn\u2019t matter whether Brother Lawrence was dicing tomatoes, repairing sandals, or praying alone in his cell: anytime and everywhere God was nearby.\u00a0 Do we slow to see others, and God?<\/p>\n

Less Is More\u2026<\/strong> Could you imagine if we did everything in life with integrity?\u00a0 I am slowly coming to the stark reality that I can only due few things well in life.\u00a0 When I attempt many things, I often do them poorly.\u00a0 The reality being, if I am going to be an activist who does not overshoot, leaving renewable energy for the task at hand, I must slow, realizing that less is more.<\/p>\n

For us demonstrating the gospel in our activism, remember\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n

A life lived out of balance could quite possibly be one of the most tragic examples of the gospel being misrepresented on this earth.\u00a0 This disproportionate lifestyle ignores the need for rhythms, rest and so subtly denies the very limitations we have as human beings. The effects are holistic and far reaching impacting your own physical, emotional, spiritual, and social interactions and well being.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I have a good friend named Marilyn.\u00a0 Marilyn is one of the kindest and most gentle humans I know.\u00a0 For years Marilyn has worked as a message therapist.\u00a0 In fact, one of the best I know.\u00a0 In her free time she cares for a significant HIV community in our local area. \u00a0Her passion always inspires […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[2,176],"class_list":["post-431","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-dminlgp","tag-macyjohnstone","cohort-lgp3"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/431","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=431"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/431\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1759,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/431\/revisions\/1759"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=431"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=431"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=431"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}