Sunday, May 21, 2006

Exhaustion

Sundays, not surprisingly, are days of extreme tiredness for most pastors. The pastors who then go into the office Monday morning are few and far between in my circle of colleauges. Perhaps they nap and recharge Sundays. Perhaps they are able to finish their sermon before Friday (er, Saturday night) and therefore if they were to take the other logical day as a Sabbath, would actually be able to rest that day, instead. I, on the other hand, know that the week is rare (non-existent?) in which I would have something ready-enough to be able to rest on Friday.

All of that having been said, today is one of an intense tiredness for me. We bid my colleague Godspeed and Farewell this weekend; after a beautifully long ministry career, he's retiring. It has been a weekend of many tears, much laughter, celebration and held-breaths. For all of the times when I willed the tears away and smiled so nicely and answered people's (stupid) questions, my body has absorbed the energy and now it has disappeared. In no way was it about me (except that I'm staying and he's going) and yet I have felt unable to cope with even the smallest tasks this evening.

I'm tired and feel that it is an exhaustion that goes beyond the relief of a good night's rest. My fear is that with the transition in front of me, any sense of rest will be slippery at best in the coming days, weeks and months.

2 comments:

Unknown said...

Dear exhausted and tired, I am in the same boat as thee. Sometimes and more recently I am not done until Sunday morning with the written word. Its all in my head until then. I pray you are able to to get the sleep and rest you need. I do rest on Sunday if I can, but not always. I will have to get into a new rythmn with the new church, they have Sunday night services with preaching.

chickpastor said...

Yes, "Sundays" and "tiring" are redundant in our house with two clergy. We hate it and are working on some changes. But we take Fridays off, sermon or no sermon, catching up on Saturday if we need to. It seems to put us in a good rhythm, rather than working like crazy up until Sunday and then collapsing in a heap on Sunday afternoon and Monday, which is what used to happen. Anyway, that's what's been helpful for us but it's certainly not a cure-all. Blessings to you in finding it for you!