Dealing With Our Junk

Photo by Joshua Coleman on Unsplash 

Create in me a clean heart, O God, and put a new and right spirit within me.

Psalms 51:10 NRSV

I am taking a class on spiritual care in trauma. This week the instructor talked about the importance of self care. The idea isn't new to me. Pastors get reminded about this often. But the reason she gave was what struck me:  "If we do not care for ourselves, we risk harming those we are trying to help" (Jennifer Ohman-Rodriguez).  In other words, if we don't deal with our own junk, we could be passing it on to the people around us. 

I know the signs of burnout and unresolved junk in myself: resentment, cynicism, exhaustion, apathy, depression, and, once in awhile, anger.  I am learning new ways to take care of myself: therapy, art, honesty, to name a few.  It's a long and winding road, as the Beatles sang, and it does lead me back to You (God).

Knowing how much work it takes to deal with my own junk, I am not surprised that there is unresolved junk in our lives, or that our churches have been places of harm, rather than the safe havens we want them to be. But we can work on that and make it better. I think it starts with honesty with ourselves about the existence of the junk. 

Thanks, God.