Action and contemplation are not opposites; they create synergy. Anglican priest and New York Times opinion writer Tish Harrison Warren tells a story about graduating from college, plunging into social justice work, and being confronted by her university chaplain, a Franciscan. He told her, "You do not have the life of prayer and silence necessary to sustain the work you are doing."

Warren burned out. Almost all social activists burn out. They get bitter. They blame the intransigent opposition or their colleagues who were too weak kneed to press the fight forward. Or their bodies rebel and they get sick. I've seen it hundreds of times, and progressive Christianity has a left a trail of burned out human hulks.

People in the thick of action need to withdraw. This is the case with social activists working with the poor and marginalized, and it is the also the case with those whose work puts them on the front lines of crisis. If the pandemic has taught us anything, it is that we put teachers, nurses, firefighters, paramedics, and cops under enormous pressure. Ministers, too.

“If Jesus could go to the desert for 40 days to pray, why can’t we carve out 30 minutes of meditation time for teachers sometime during the school work week? No bells. No announcements. No cell phones. No lesson plans. Just a chance for quiet. At the end of a watch commander’s briefing, why don’t we give cops 5 minutes of quiet? ”

If Jesus could go to the desert for 40 days to pray, why can't we carve out 30 minutes of meditation time for teachers sometime during the school work week? No bells. No announcements. No cell phones. No lesson plans. Just a chance for quiet. At the end of a watch commander's briefing, why don't we give cops 5 minutes of quiet?

Warren quotes the theologian Jared Alcántara who says that if we fail to engage the world around us, "we risk becoming distant, aloof, and detached from the world," but "if we fail to engage in receptive practices, we risk becoming distant from ourselves, offering living waters to others while we die of thirst."

Drink the waters.

Visit our new Leanne Bauman Kerchner, meditation garden and walk the labyrinth. Behind the sanctuary, across the street from Mountain View School. It's open to all.

And join us for Centering Prayer on Friday mornings at 8 am Pacific Time. If you need a link to the prayer site, please write me at charlestaylorkerchner@gmail.com.

Photo: Richard Horvath via Unsplash