Welcome to Restful.
A newsletter and gathering space for weary people who want to listen, love, and live their real lives in the restful way of Jesus.
Hello. I’m Tamara Hill Murphy, a spiritual director and author of The Spacious Path: Practicing the Restful Way of Jesus in a Fragmented World.
Every week since 2006, I’ve shared writing and resources on my website to help us worship God, love people, and enjoy beauty. The blog posts, guidebooks, and essays I’ve published feature a curated mix of my own writing plus books, music, art, and other good work from creators and cultivators who have inspired me. Over the past 17 years, we’ve become a small band of hospitable and generous internet companions.
Over time, I’ve written about all sorts of topics with varying degrees of charity and intelligence. But the theme I keep returning to is that we can take Jesus seriously when he invites us to come to him for rest in the middle of every kind of suffering and circumstance, from wherever we call home, and maybe especially when we feel like we don’t even know where home is anymore. I’ve realized that more than adding more words to the internet, I long to offer a gathering space that evokes your own longings, is powerful enough to provoke a deeper connection with Jesus, others, and ourselves, and sends us back into our real lives to strengthen those connections.
That’s a bit audacious, isn’t it? I’ve grown wary of big ideas that prompt action without connection. We’ve all been there—the self-help lists and the self-referential think pieces that promise a shortcut around our fears to achieve our desires. But I’ve learned, and probably so have you, that there is no shortcut to what we long for most—intimacy with God and communion with each other.
Most of us are weary of settling for a kind of religious proximity to God and others. We long to remain present to God’s loving attention as our full, true, vulnerable selves, and then allow ourselves to find rest within God’s beloved community.
I don’t want to add to the noise with cynical rants or idealistic virtue signals. This is not loving, and it is definitely not restful—for me or for you. Instead, I hope—with words, yes, but also questions, art, and storytelling—to continually point us to Jesus’ invitation to come to him for rest. Keeping company with Jesus and each other, we find restful ways to express lament, amazement, and everything in between. Restful is the way Jesus holds all things together, including our own weary selves.
Many of us are wondering how we can find more rest and beauty in our lives, be more gentle with ourselves and others, and learn to offer humble listening and loving presence to others. We quickly discover a tension: being at rest is inherently vulnerable. It requires us to drop our guard and welcome our full selves and others. This is why it’s so good that Jesus is a gentle and lowly companion. When we keep company with him, we find we can humbly offer that same gentleness to each other.
That’s why I chose the name: ‘Restful’. I hope that just by reading that word at the top of each page, it will evoke a sense of a spacious, welcoming place where you can drop your guard, and maybe sometimes just put your feet up and stay awhile. And like truly restful experiences, you will find yourself refreshed and wanting to offer the gift of your loving presence to others. And you’ll be able to do this in the restful way of Jesus.
Why subscribe?
When you subscribe, you’ll receive my free newsletter twice a month, which will invite reflection and highlight resources to help us worship God, love people, and enjoy beauty in the restful way of Jesus. This is also the best place to find my latest news, published work, and other projects. You’ll also be able to follow me on Substack Notes.
The weekday email will always be available for one week free for everyone, but for $8/month or $64/year, paid subscribers get:
Weekly bonus meditation with curated collections of scripture, music, art, prayer, and simple practices to help you follow the church calendar
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Entry into a monthly book giveaway: new and renewing paid subscribers will have their names automatically entered into a drawing to receive a book I happen to be featuring that month.
Four free months of Restful!
A year’s subscription is $64, which represents a significant savings compared to the monthly subscription! There is also a patronage tier for individuals who wish to support my writing and work more closely with me. Members of this tier are the first readers and patrons of my writing projects, receiving bonus content (like ebooks) and occasional live or recorded book discussions.
Whether you follow this newsletter for free or become a paid subscriber, thank you. It’s a privilege to share my work with you, and I pray that you will feel welcomed and respected in this space.
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PS: If you’d like to be a paid subscriber but the fee is not available to you (been there!) please let me know and I’ll comp you, no questions asked.
Have you ordered my book? The Spacious Path: Practicing the Restful Way of Jesus in a Fragmented World. Available now, wherever books are sold: Hearts & Minds Books | Bookshop | Amazon | Herald Press
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