September 17thHoly Rhythms for a Whole Life
- by Charleen Jongejan Harder
Most of us seek balance in our lives. We often talk about work-life balance as something that we can “achieve”, as though we can check off that goal as completed, and never have to address it again. In my experience however, balance is fleeting - we achieve balance for a moment, or a brief season, and then something in our circumstance shifts and we need to recalibrate again. Like a pendulum swinging in a Grandfather clock, balance is something that we pass through again and again.
I love the idea of repentance as an ongoing invitation, a turning (and turning again) towards God, not a one-time event in your life.
What if this is truly the normal state of things? Can we stop kicking ourselves for not being in constant balance, and shift our attitude more in the direction of attentiveness to recalibrating instead? What if we turn our attention to noticing when life feels fulfilling, when our gifts are well-utilized, what we personally need more of, and what work we are being called to? Or conversely, noticing what is draining, what we need less of, when our energies seem misplaced, and what work we can set aside? The prayer practice of the examen involves reflecting on your day before you retire for the night, noticing the moments of joy, and the moments of shadow; it’s a prayer of noticing. As you attend to your day in God’s presence, you invite God to continue to re-shape your life? Over time, you may shed and prune that which is not for you; and add and nurture those things that truly are.
When I am deeply abiding in God’s presence, I am in tune with these things. When I drift from God’s presence, I drift into habits and rhythms that don’t serve me (or others) all that well. Even so, when I notice (or someone else calls this to my attention), it is an invitation to shift yet again, back into a rhythm of presence and prayer. As a rule, I don’t get mad at myself for drifting - I am but human. I see it instead as an opportunity to repent as the gospels invite us with the Greek word metanoia, which means to turn around. There is no need for self-flagellation in repent, just turning around. Getting the compass re-oriented, turning on the GPS and getting back on track. I love the idea of repentance as an ongoing invitation, a turning (and turning again) towards God, not a one-time event in your life.
As Anabaptists we have generally considered Jesus’ words in Matthew 5:37 “Let your yes be yes and your no be no” (Matthew 5:37) in relationship to taking oaths, and yet recently I’ve been pondering the wisdom of this teaching in terms of healthy boundaries, and in service of our overall invitation to turn towards that which brings life, and away from that which impedes it. How are we being attentive to what we are being called towards, and what we are being invited to shed?
May my yes truly be a yes, and my no truly be a no - and may I honour the Yes and the No of those with whom I share life.
-Charleen Jongejan Harder is an MCEC pastor.