Mutual care, hammocks, and the ministry of the local church with Ashley Cuellar!
Lenten Questions -- week 3!
As I mentioned at the beginning of Lent1, I’m asking several questions as I move through the season: How do I live and move and have my being? What is mine to do? and How will I remain in my body? With the realization that I’m not the only one asking these questions, I was inspired to invite some friends to join me in the answering. Each week until Easter, I’ve invited different voices to share with us how they answer these questions. I hope you’ll join me as we learn from their stories.
This week I’ve invited my friend, Ashley Cuellar, to answer our Lenten Questions! I hope you’ll find some inspiration as you read about the good work she’s doing!
Meet Ashley:
My name is Ashley, and I currently serve as a pastor at a small church in North Austin. I love being a minister and serving the local congregation. I am about to embark on a chaplaincy residency for the next year and will continue to serve in the local church in whatever way I am called to serve. I love connection with people, nature, and the Divine. I earnestly seek to live my life from an open-hearted place and to be led by and grounded in love.
How do you live and move and have your being?
I move through my days with trust and faith that the Spirit is with me and that Christ is moving in the world and inviting me to participate. While I don't always feel this viscerally, my faith and experience with God have grounded me in a deep belief that this is true and that the world's weariness is not the only reality.
My faith and relationship with God are the center of my life and draw me to participate in and create a different reality of peace, joy, hope, and love. Sometimes, this looks like following a nudge to meet with God in the great outdoors, allowing the beauty of creation to wrap me up while I sit and find peace. Sometimes, this looks like taking time to experience joy as I participate in play through rock climbing or even through coloring in my new Tabitha Brown adult coloring book!
Sometimes, this looks like turning over a burden of anger or hate to God in prayer and allowing the love of God to fill my heart again. Many times, it looks like reaching out to those around me to share in the work of hope- reminding one another of the faithfulness of God and that what we see now is not what will always be.
The work of ministry in the local church, along with the work of preaching and writing, feels like some of the most significant ways I am wired to connect with myself, God, and those around me. I am drawn to this work because I can lead and live from my heart, and that feels the most "me."
What is yours to do?
One of my favorite things I do is pastor a congregation. I am so drawn to the notion that the Church can really be a strong force for good in our society, especially when the Church follows the compassionate and humble service to all people that Jesus demonstrated through his life and teachings.
One of the things I got to do recently was help lead the congregation to host a cold weather shelter for our neighbors who were sleeping on the street during dangerous freezing temperatures. This shelter development was happening right as many of us felt helpless and unsure of how to respond to the state of this present world. Along with the shelter, I serve throughout the week to make meals for the community and serve through the church food pantry. After the experience of the cold weather shelter and the subsequent continuance of compassionate ministries at the church campus, I feel even more grounded in the idea that THIS is mine to do. It is mine to do the hands-on service with those around me. This includes shepherding others into doing this work and preaching messages about doing this work, too.
While this work isn't overtly addressing the political turmoil, it is planting seeds of love, compassion, and a mutual acknowledgment of our humanity. I believe these seeds will only continue to grow in myself and all who meet in this space together. It is not a service for my neighbors; it's a mutual act of love and humility exchanged with my neighbors. This means that when I participate in making and sharing a meal with a neighbor, sharing a hug, giving an extra blanket to a neighbor sleeping at the church campus, or smiling as I help serve someone shopping for food at the pantry- I am sharing in a mutual exchange of love and seeing my humanity in that person's eyes. This exchange deeply blesses my soul, and I witness that the entire space seems caught up in a sweet spirit of love and mutual care. This will continue to be my work to do, and I trust that this will have ripple effects on our society and shine a light in the midst of this darkness.
How do you remain in your body?
I am constantly leaning more and more into this idea and practice. Lately, I am drinking more water, resting when needed, and reminding myself that my body's needs are just as important as any of my other needs. I am staying grounded by participating in play, connection, and outdoor activities.
Some of the things I love are rock climbing, sitting outside to write, read, or pray, hiking a trail by myself or with others, cuddling with my pets, sitting on a friend's couch to chat, and hanging out in my hammock among the trees (I got to hang in my hammock and introduce my sweet friend Deb to this practice last weekend! What a delight to hang in the trees in my hammock with a precious friend in her first experience in a hammock. Her joy became my joy. Holding her hand to pull her to get her hammock to swing was one of the most grounding moments I have had in a long time).
Lately, I have kept myself grounded by sharing my most vulnerable self with those around me. Letting people into my inner world has shown me that connection is such a deep part of my need for grounding. I think this also reminds me that I am a person with a body and needs because emotional pain rests deep within the body, and participating in any form of connection to release also addresses my bodily needs to process and heal from pain and trauma.
And finally- sometimes I ground myself and stay in my body by hopping on a random swing at an empty park! I love the sensation of freedom and joy of flying through the air, hair blowing in the wind, a slight smile and laugh bubbling from within, even if I can feel awkward stares from strangers.
If you’d like to read more from Ashley you can follow her here on substack!
Thanks for joining us this week. I’m looking forward to more conversation around these questions and I’d love for you to join us in the comments!
Holly
P.S. If you’ve missed the first two weeks of this Lent series you can read Jen Lewis here and Joshua Barrett Tracey here!
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I love this series and so glad to be a part!!