I am a Minnesotan and each year at this time I check the weather and see how cold it is in Minneapolis. The ultimate test is “wind-chill” which measures temperature + wind to frequently announce a cold front and a forecast of -30 degrees wind chill.
A friend recently told me there is two kinds of “ice” back home; bone-numbing cold temperatures and the heart-rending and mind boggling presence of ICE agents patrolling, arresting, abusing, and frightening countless people in the state known for being “nice.
Major media sources splash headlines and Social Media posts first-hand reports from friends reporting from the streets the chilling chaos in a blue state being singled out and punished by our president and his co-thugs. The playground “bully” has spread his venom and vengeance around the world with allies becoming enemies and enemies hailed as heroes. Hardly a moment passes without my heart aching, my mind spinning, and my spirit struggling.
One word today describes how I feel, WEARY! How about you? Maybe depressed, even hopeless.
During a sleep-challenged night, Jesus words came to me,
“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light”. Matthew 11:28
You may remember that my 2026 resolution is “Be still…”
Because I am an activist at heart, this has been a challenge. Fortunately, I have had mentors who have taught me and I am still learning the importance of “stillness” or as Jesus promises “rest.”
Before probing the meaning and importance of rest, it is important to praise the countless people across the country and particularly in Minneapolis who have taken to the streets in sub-zero temperatures to confront “ICE,” to support neighbors of all races and creeds, and provide a model for all of us to share our convictions, compassion, faith, and commitment to justice for all. As a pastor, I am particularly inspired by the hundred of religious leaders (pastors, rabbis, imams) who are currently in Minnesota bearing witness. Bless you!
My daily reflections on stillness and rest flow from many teachers. Here are a few.
While at Yale Divinity School, my two role models were the activist, Rev. William Sloane Coffin, a key leader in the anti-war movement, and Spirituality professor, Henri Nouwen, whose courses were a reminder to root my action in prayer and scripture.
The Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel whose writing on the Hebrew Bible prophets provides both a call to contemplation and action. He explains that “sabbath” on the 7th Day of Creation was not a “nap” but a surveying and savoring of the goodness of all of creation which humans must tend with love and care.
This is a “holy pause” to rest and be renewed and inspired to take care of the garden. As an aging gardener, maybe this original paradox points to renewal in the midst of sweat and tears for goodness sake.
In my journal today, I thought of the prophet Ezekiel who fled to a cave in fear for his life, suffering from exhaustion and depression after Queen Jezebel threatened to kill him following his confrontation with the prophets of Baal. He learns that God is not in the wind, earthquake, and flame, but in a “still, small voice.” 1Kings 19
When we are weary, “rest” is vital and involves being still and listening.
A current prophetic voice that provides perspective and rest, is the historian Heather Cox Richardson, who daily “Letter from an American” is my current holy “epistle” providing perspective. Here’s how a friend describes her voice,
“While the rest of us doomscroll into the void, she sits at a desk in Maine—translating chaos into hope.” To over 2.6 million people who read her words every morning, she’s become something the internet desperately needs: a voice that doesn’t panic.
Every night, when anxiety is at its peak and the headlines feel unbearable, Richardson sits down to write. She’s a history professor at Boston College, but what she does goes far beyond academia. She takes the chaos of this moment and holds it up against the clear mirror of the past.
She studies the moments when democracies have crumbled.
She studies the moments when they’ve survived.
And what she offers is both terrifying and profoundly hopeful.
Here’s the truth she keeps reminding us: We think we’re trapped in a nightmare we’ve seen before. We look at the division, the anger, the eroding norms, and we feel a sickening sense of déjà vu. We know how this story ends—or at least, we think we do.
But Richardson challenges that assumption.
We can choose cynicism. We can look at the patterns and say, “Here we go again.” We can let momentum carry us over the edge.
Or we can remember something Richardson wants us to never forget:
Every single day is a choice. How we treat each other. How we engage with truth. Whether we show up or check out.
History is not a weather forecast. It’s not something that happens to us while we watch.
It’s something we create.
Heather Cox Richardson has spent her life studying the ghosts of the past. But she doesn’t live there. She lives in the hope of the present.
The terrible inevitability only applies to yesterday, she tells us.
Tomorrow is still wet cement.
It’s waiting for our fingerprints.”
https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/t/read
You have come to know a bit about this Paddle Pilgrim, who in his 3rd Act after wearing out his knees running for decades, is wearing out his shoulders kayaking all over the world.
I end with another peaceful paradox. When I paddle my kayak, albeit an active practice, I find that I experience a kind of rest which renews my soul.
If you are weary, be still if you can, listen, rest, but go for a walk, ride your bike, paddle your boat, participate in a peaceful demonstration.
Paddle boldly and Peace be with you!
Books, films, podcasts, and speaking @ paddle-pilgrim.com
Indeed. Dave, sometimes I end up thinking that I am in a small minority of those associated with LBI who have a sense of what Jesus actually taught and lived...this reminds me that I am not alone.