Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy-laden, and I will give you rest.
This is from the King James version of the Bible, Matthew 11:28. I remember these words of comfort and encouragement while communion was being served, spoken softly and yet firmly and with passion and commitment by the pastor of the church I attended as a child growing into an adult. Brother Bill Fulton at Bay Vue Methodist in Crystal Beach, Texas was a wonderful human, and a perfect guide to learning about a benevolent God. I’ll tell my part of his story another day.
I think of this beautiful, solemn promise, always in the sound of Brother Bill’s voice, when I struggle. It comforts me and gives me strength. I also think of it when others struggle.
Today, on Labor Day, I’m thinking of the many people I know who are laboring or heavy-laden, and I pray for them to find respite, peace, healing, comfort and support.
Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy-laden, and I will give you rest.
There are so many more who are suffering, from wars, hurricanes, poverty, illness, grief, COVID-borne lassitude, depression.
Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy-laden, and I will give you rest.
There are people who feel like this dead tree, standing alone amongst the verdant ones, lost, hopeless and ready to give up.
Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy-laden, and I will give you rest.
There are people who have lost everything they have and don’t know where to turn.
Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy-laden, and I will give you rest.
There are people who are trapped. Trapped by hurricanes, trapped because of the country they were born in, trapped by other humans, trapped in systems that were rigged against them because of the circumstances of their birth.
Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy-laden, and I will give you rest.
I love and respect the tradition of Labor Day in the US (and Canada) as a holiday for workers, a time to fire up the grill, get out on the boat, hang out with friends, escape for a 3-day weekend or take a whole week off to rest. But I also have been feeling this duality: my personal life, with its ups and downs and daily challenges and joys that are my unique and authentic existence, contrasted against this suffering, this laboring over troubles and heavy-laden-ness that is so real for others, right now, today, and seeming a little trivial. My heart is heavy for those who are suffering. You know who you are. You know I think about and pray for you. I cannot turn that off and party like it’s 1999 just because it’s Labor Day.
Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy-laden, and I will give you rest.
“Don’t feel guilty because you’re not suffering right now”, a friend said when I shared this feeling with her, and she reminded me of some of my own personal tragedies that now belong to the tapestry of my past.
Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy-laden, and I will give you rest.
She went on to provide more perspective. That’s what friends do. I appreciated that, and felt a little less trivial.
Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy-laden, and I will give you rest.
I pray for you, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, for any reason. I pray that you will find rest and respite. And peace and healing.
And I also pray that you will find joy in small moments, because that’s often where joy lies. I will have many small moments of joy on this labor day, and might even post about them. But I won’t forget your suffering.
Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy-laden, and I will give you rest.
Those are comforting words.
© 2021, Glover Gardens
LOLOL!
Quintessential Maggie Move!
Your prayers were so lovely and full of genuine empathic emotions that I “scribbled” a loooong (verbosity is my calling card!) and off the cuff reply. And then, poof! Disappeared into a cloud. Whose? What nebula or eyewall? We’ll never know!
I thank you for such a beautiful, giving message today. It was so lovely I was verklimpt and grateful for a friend I’ve yet to lay eyes on! I’ll keep it succinct tonight.
MLK said, “Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only Light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.”
So, light and love to you today. And always.
Maggie
Oh my dear Maggie, I’m so glad you heard my empathy call. I love that you were inspired to scribble a response and hope that somehow, it will show back up. I don’t think you are verbose, but very , very clever with words, but I’d like to share with you a little slogan that I made up years and years ago: “verbosity is my policy”. 😁
I will share here, publicly that I felt a little exposed with that post, and yet, that it was something I must say… and you have validated me. Sometimes, that’s all you need, right? One other human to say, you touched me, I get it, it was something that was meaningful to me. Thank you. Thank you.
Light and love right back atcha.