Rest from Consumerism

Living in a consumer-capitalist-driven society renders us constantly to “do” and “produce,” especially as Christmas looms on the horizon. The hustle feels endless from this grind culture. So much is heavy on the “do” and light on the “be.”

This is not what God wants for us. Psalm 23 reminds us to rest.

He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, he refreshes my soul.

In Tricia Hersey’s blog post entitled, Rest is anything that connects your mind and body: she reiterates that “this is about more than naps” and explains that her rest as a Black woman in America is a political refusal and social uprising within her body to save her life from generational exhaustion and racial trauma (2022). Hersey (2022) continues:

It is not about fluffy pillows, expensive sheets, silk sleep masks or any other external, frivolous, consumerist gimmick. It is about a deep unraveling from white supremacy and capitalism. These two systems are violent and evil. History tells us this and our present living shows this. Rest pushes back and disrupts a system that views human bodies as a tool for production and labor. It is a counter narrative. We know that we are not machines. We are divine.

What kind of rest is God calling you to? What might be making rest difficult for you?

God is not absent to the challenges we face and the toll it takes in our lives. God knows and sees everything.

Psalm 23 also reminds us we are never alone. God is with us.

Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff they comfort me.

God invites you to rest. We are divine and it is our divine right to do so.

*Hersey, T. (2022, February 21). Rest is anything that connects your mind and body. https://thenapministry.wordpress.com/