PRACTICE & PRAY
Follow Me: The Second Sunday of Epiphanytide
Blessed Epiphany, friends!
It’s the second week of Epiphanytide and we’re just getting started walking with Jesus in these weeks of witness and revelation.1
Today’s letter includes:
A final invitation to my Restful subscription sale
A reflection on my own restful pause this week
Plus, for paid subscribers only
Practices and prayers, art and music for this week in the church year
Some of my personal thoughts about today’s scripture readings
Let's begin.
New Year
Restful Start.
Before we begin, I want to give you one last reminder that I’m offering a Restful subscription sale to celebrate our entry to 2024! Today is the final day to receive this rare gift.
Who is this gift for?
Are you entering 2024 feeling:
Physically or relationally spent?
Emotionally disoriented or depleted?
Spiritually fatigued?
Do any of these descriptions resonate with you? If so, the Restful subscription sale is for you.
I know exactly how it feels to turn the corner into a new season, still feeling tired and uncertain from the past season. I understand that longing for a fresh start, yet barely knowing where to begin or to begin again. I am familiar with the default patterns that crowd out my desire with restless routines and scattershot strategies for new beginnings.
Even after years of learning and growing in the restful way of Jesus, I’m still tempted to begin every new season from either idealism or cynicism—neither of which is restful. Sometimes, I try to find shortcuts to my God-given desires with self-determined resolutions and short-lived willpower.
As my sister Kaley Ehret says, “We've been taught to believe that setting big resolutions will fix everything.”
But the truth is that 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—a restful intimacy with God, communion with each other, and connection with our own souls.
What if we could take Jesus’ invitation to come to him for rest seriously this year?
Could the restful way of Jesus is much simpler and more sustainable than we’ve imagined? What if ordinary acts of contemplation and community could help us find rest no matter what our circumstances might be?
I invite you to practice the restful way of Jesus with me this year. It's the kind of rest that transforms every part of ourselves and our lives and is grounded in the belief that true rest isn’t something we can initiate but a gift we receive.
Join me for a Restful New Year. Subscribe by January 14 and get 50% off the already-discounted annual subscription rate.
Let me welcome you into a gathering space that helps you contemplate God’s loving presence, articulate your longings, and connect more deeply with Jesus, others, and your own self.
And once you have subscribed, why not share the invitation with a friend? Rest if a gift we both give and receive!
Friends, for decades of my life, I settled for a kind of religious proximity to God and others rather than being present to giving and receiving love as my full, true, vulnerable self. Along the way, I’ve discovered a beautiful community of people who have experienced this same kind of weary longing. It’s taken my lifetime to believe, but I can honestly say that I believe with my whole heart that there is a way to live restfully in Jesus and with others. Let me help you do the same.
See you in the Restful 2024!
Tamara
PS: If you’d like to be a paid subscriber but even the half-off fee is not available to you (been there!), please let me know, and I’ll comp you a full year, no questions asked.
My reflection from the last week in the church year
Last Sunday, the first Sunday in Epiphany, we meditated Isaiah 42:1-9, Psalm 89:20-29v, Acts 10:34-38, Mark 1:7-11 and I felt especially drawn to the account of Jesus’ baptism in Mark 1.
I promised myself I wouldn’t get anxious about how long it would take me to return to a healthy work rhythm after our kids left last week. For the most part, I’ve kept that promise, and I’ve needed to because—sheesh!—I feel discombobulated this week! My brain feels foggy, time feels mushy, and my ability to focus is almost nonexistent. I’m grateful for the things that have helped me through this first week back to work: some good books to read, fresh snow and sun that helped me get outside, and a brand new journal and favorite pen to help me collect my thoughts and prayers.
One image that helped me begin meeting with spiritual directees again was Jesus at his baptism from Sunday’s gospel reading. In the pauses when my mind wanted to wander, the Holy Spirit helped me meditate on the voice of blessing Jesus heard as he came up from the Jordan: “You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.” Jesus had not yet performed miracles, organized ministry opportunities, or taught in public. He just said yes to God’s command for baptism and made room for God’s voice to be heard. I sat in my chair, eyes closed, imagining myself standing knee-deep in the river with Jesus, listening for God’s loving voice to be heard by my directee. What a profound yet gentle gift.
Practices and prayers, art and music for this week in the church year
This week, we are framing our prayer and practice around today’s lectionary passages: 1 Samuel 3:1-20; Psalm 63:1-9v; 1 Corinthians 6:9-20; John 1:43-512
