I think my title for this article comes from an old George and Ira Gershwin song from the Broadway musical Porgy and Bess. Yet for many youth ministers, summertime is the time for mission/service trips, social trips to water parks, tubing trips and water ski outings, retreats, fundraisers, and more.

Some ministers intensify programming because teens are more accessible in the summer than during the school year. So, ‘easy living’ is not exactly the phrase to describe summer for many youth leaders. Yet, there is something important about using the summer season to rest and recharge our batteries.

Too often many ministers work at breakneck pace during the summer and find themselves dreading fall programming because they really had no rejuvenation time of their own. Wayne Mueller, in his excellent book Sabbath, cites some of the reasons we do not normally rest,

...we can, over time, become enthralled in the trance of our work.
It is all-important;
It must be done right away;
It won't get done without m;
I cannot stop or it will all fall apart;
It is all up to me;
Terrible things will happen if I do not get this done.
I have to keep working because I have things to buy and there are bills to pay for those things and I have to buy faster computers and more expensive telephones to help me get more done so I can keep up and make the money to pay for the bills for the things I need to buy to help me get these things done...

Once we are in this trance, there never seems to be a good enough reason to stop. The wisdom of Sabbath time is that at a prescribed moment, it is time to stop. We cannot wait until we are finished, because we are never finished. We cannot wait until we have everything we need, because the mind is seduced by endlessly multiplying desires. We cannot wait until things slow down, because the world is moving faster and faster, and we cannot be left behind. There are always a million good reasons to keep on going, and never a good enough reason to stop. (pp.210-211)

Now, I know I cannot change my, or anyone else’s, DNA, but I do think we have to re-examine our approaches to ministry for our own sanity as well as for providing teens with an example of what healthy ministers look like.

I would like to share two thoughts from some recent reading as areas for consideration as you and I prepare for this upcoming summer.

The first is from a book by a Methodist pastor, Robert Benson. It is a short book, A Good Life. It is about what St. Benedict has to say to people today about a ‘rhythm of life.’ Benson cites four areas that are key to monastic life but also to those of us today in this busy world:

• Prayer: I recommend some extended time for quiet and prayer. Perhaps an afternoon of silence or solitude once a month during the summer. An escape with the express purpose of getting in the boat to the other side of the lake with Jesus.
• Work: I think we have got that covered. My dad always challenged me to ‘learn how to work’ (That is the Cajun equivalent of “Work smarter, not harder.”)
• Community: I do not mean with the teens we serve. I mean the relationships (family and friends) outside of church relationships. Who are the people who give you energy, make your soul smile, or make you ‘do the happy dance’?
• Rest: Slow down. Shut down. Sleep in. Do ‘your stuff’ in order to re-fuel the tank.

On this notion of rest, Matthew Kelly, in his book, The Rhythm of Life, names three habits that we would be good to cultivate as we try to create rhythm for ourselves:

• Rest: get adequate sleep
• Quiet Hour: take time for prayer and meditation
• Sabbath: regular intervals of doing nothing, of prolonged rest, relaxation, and rejuvenation

My punch line through it all is let us use the season of summer to be a bit more intentional about self-care. Bill Hybels says it best in his article, The Art of Self-Leadership, “The best gift you can give the people you lead is a healthy, energized, fully surrendered, focused self. And no one else can do that for you.”

Take care of yourself. It is good stewardship, good modeling and good discipleship. Have a blessed summer in 2008.