5 Quotes on Summer

Looking for inspiration for your summertime sermons? Here are five quotes that highlight different themes about summer.

Quote 1

Comment: I love The Office, but in this short quotation we experience a very popular strain in modern society: that work is at best, a necessary evil and that if possible, we ought to avoid it at all costs. It’s the “Corona Commercial view of the good life": sitting on the beach with a beer in our hands is the best possible experience we can have. Why? Because it means no responsibility, no cares of this world to keep us from enjoying life. The problem is that such a worldview ignores the Biblical reality that work comes before the Fall, and therefore essential to what a flourishing life ought to look like. Perhaps most of us want to lie on the beach and eat hot dogs (or something a bit tastier), but a life of flourishing can’t stay there forever. We’ve all come across “beach bums,” and rarely do we think, “this is the life!” 

What is needed?  A balance of work and rest.

Quote 2

Comment: Here we find something far closer to a Biblical picture of rest than the previous entry. On the other side of the “eat hot dogs and lie on the beach” worldview is the ever-increasing value on productivity and efficiency. In such a world, rest can easily be interpreted as idleness, or perhaps something worse: laziness. But, as John Lebbock articulates in this beautiful quotation, rest is an integral part of the way God created us as human beings. This quote also speaks to an important aspect of rest: there is a difference between healthy and unhealthy types of rest. Sitting in front of a TV screen or a video game may be rest, but it isn’t restorative. Spending time in the beauty of God’s creation, however, can be deeply restful.

Science has something to say about this: recent scientific studies have shown a significant connection between light exposure and energy and mood [1]. Getting outside, especially in the morning, helps our circadian rhythms, which in turn, helps us experience more energy and enhanced moods [2]. Getting outside for rest, therefore, can be a great way to experience rest and rejuvenation.

Quote 3

Comment: I love this quote by fantasy author Terry Pratchett. The idea of “taking a vacation” is a relatively new concept in human history, first appearing in the 19th century, especially among the wealthy in Europe. The ancient world, including the Biblical writers, would not have had any sense of taking time off from work to travel and/or rest. But Pratchett’s quote also hints at one of the great advantages of travel: that is it helps us see with new eyes the world in which we live. We have the ability to take a different view of our lives, of our faith, and the habits and routines that make up this life. I wrote about this a few years ago after my own travel prompted some re-thinking and re-wiring of habits.

How might you use this way of thinking about travel to help your congregation see their own lives anew in light of their own summer trips?

Quote 4

Comment: This quote by Seth Godin has stuck with me ever since I first read it near the book’s release in 2008. I don’t believe Godin is dismissing the value of rest and rejuvenation in the form of vacation, but I do think he’s capturing a significant problem in modern life. For one reason or another, folks find themselves in situations where they look forward to vacation far more than the next work day. This isn’t completely abnormal, but it might be a sign of something more significant. As pastors preaching on vacation and rest, it may be helpful to point out that Godin is right: if we have a life that has us constantly looking forward to the next vacation, we might have to find out why that is and either change our situation or change our attitudes.

Quote 5

Comment: In the materially prosperous, industrialized West we don't like to think of aging and death. This in spite of the fact that we are blessed with long lives (generally) and so will probably spend many years being old. We elevate the summertime of life above all else: young, healthy, thriving faces look out at us from billboards and magazines. We spend lots of money on supplements, clothes, makeup, and even surgery to grab hold of youth (or at least its appearance) and keep it in our grasp as long as we can. This infects Christianity, too. I can’t count the number of churches I’ve been in where the people up front were almost exclusively young. 

E. B. White gives us an exceedingly gentle reminder that, even at the height of summer and youth and flourishing, we are headed for winter. The party won’t last. We won’t be young forever. We will die. Christianity has always stressed the importance of this recognition and even meditation upon it. Modern research, even, is starting to show that there are some real benefits to remembering our mortality [3], [4]. How does accepting and contemplating your own mortality change the way you do your ministry? How might you help your congregation do the same?