There’s a popular piece of wisdom that floats around the internet. It says, “This is your gentle reminder that one time in the Bible Elijah was like “God, I’m so mad! I want to die!” so God said “Here’s some food. Why don’t you have a nap?” So Elijah slept, ate, & decided things weren't so bad. Never underestimate the spiritual power of a nap & a snack.”(Clarkson 2019) I love this summary of what happened in Chapter 19 of 1 Kings- because that’s what really happened. Elijah was so upset and so angry that he wanted to give up, but God told him that a nap and some food might change his perspective. And it did.
The past few years have seen the advent of a “self-care” movement. People are encouraged and reminded to practice “self-care” on a regular basis. Along with it, an entire industry has evolved. Instagram overflows with pictures of well-to-do white girls in yoga poses or bubble baths. Candles, pedicures, spa days, massages, indulgence. From these pictures, you might think that self-care is only accessible to those who can afford such luxuries. It would seem that self-care is a privilege only for the wealthy or elite.
But that’s not what self-care is really about. I mean, of course, bubble baths and massages can be part of an overall ethos of caring for oneself. The concept of self care has a long and storied history- including this moment in 1 Kings. But it isn’t about coddling yourself, although sometimes a little indulgange here and there might be warranted. No. Self care is, “It's doing the hard work of examining and improving yourself in order to better serve the world. You can't love/save humanity if you can't love/save yourself.”(Taylor 2019) Even Socrates asked, “are you not ashamed for devoting all your care to increasing your wealth, reputation, and honors, while not caring for or even considering your reason, truth, and constant improvement of your soul?"(Taylor 2019).
For our more modern understandings of self-care, including yoga, we owe a debt of gratitude to Black Women and civil rights advocates. In particular, “Trailblazers and former Black Panther leaders Angela Davis and Ericka Huggins adopted mindfulness techniques and movement arts like yoga and meditation while incarcerated. Following their release, they both began championing the power of proper nutrition and physical movement to preserve one’s mental health while navigating an inequitable, sociopolitical system, creating wellness programs for adults and children in recreational centers across the country, in neighborhoods like Brooklyn, New York, and Oakland, California ”(Houseworth 2021).
Audre Lorde, famously said, “Caring for myself is not self-indulgence, it is self-preservation, and that is an act of political warfare” (Lorde 1988). Lorde was a Black, feminist, lesbian, and civil rights activist who worked and wrote throughout the ’60s, ‘70s, and ‘80s and she wrote these words after her second cancer diagnosis (Porteous-Sebouhain 2021). She understood that preserving herself was itself a political act and could provide her with the strength she needed to keep fighting.
Ah. There it is. Self-care provides us with the strength to keep fighting. It’s not about indulgence for indulgence's sake, but rather about giving ourselves the time and space to refuel for the fight ahead.
Let’s return for a moment to Elijah. The ongoing spiritual battle between Elijah and Jezebel is quite dramatic. Jezebel and her husband King Ahab had instituted the worship of Baal and Asherah and they, of course, had their own priests and prophets. This didn’t mesh well with the commandment to only follow one God, so Jezabel and Ahab had God’s prophets assassinated. Well, most of them at least. But not Elijah- who was in hiding, but not safe from the threats. It was pretty dire.
Elijah was exhausted, scared, and alone. So he asked God to take his life. But instead of that, God let him nap and then provided him with food. This moment of rest and care gave Elijah the strength for what was coming next. Eventually, he would win in a great battle on Mount Caramel- a victory that would not have been possible had God taken his life as requested. Elijah thought he needed to die. What he really needed was food and rest. He needed time and space to refuel for the very big, very important fight ahead.
Elijah needed self-care. But what he also needed was someone to remind him to take care of himself and a SAFE PLACE in which to get that care. He couldn’t have had that restorative nap and meal without someone looking out for him. He was in danger and he needed to fight, but he also needed safety and support in order to refuel.
What is often left out of the self-care conversation is that not everyone has the safety and support they need in order to be able to refuel. And I think that’s where the whitewashed images of skinny perfect people with their yoga mats and pedicures paint a dangerous picture of what self-care looks like. Clearly, the people in those photos don’t need help or support in getting rejuvenated. And while I do not doubt for a minute that they have their own struggles and battles, they aren’t also struggling to find time and space for rest.
This struggle is heightened in marginalized communities- especially communities of color. “Black women and queer Black people, especially Black transgender women often experience their own compounded effects of trauma owing to their sexuality and gender, when all these factors intersect with class, those living close to or below the poverty line experience their own increased risk of trauma. All of this trauma can lead to a perpetual state of ‘survival mode’, where people experience hypervigilance, avoidance, dissociation and other trauma responses. Dedicating time to self-care, in whatever form it may be, when living in survival mode, can feel quite unattainable”(Porteous-Sebouhain 2021).
So what can we do to make self-care more attainable? Well, that’s a loaded question for sure, but I think shifting the focus from self-care to community care might be the first step. Again, Elijah didn’t care for himself in a vacuum. He had protection. He had someone providing food. He could nap because he was safe. He had the support he needed in order to refuel. He needed Community Care.
Community care can be large and organized responses to care needs- diaper banks, food banks, and community centers. But it’s also “small-scale, interpersonal social networks” working together to help take care of someone in their moment of need (Jones 2017). I think Community Care of this kind might just be our best hope. When someone is sick and their friends organize to provide meals? That’s community care. When someone’s car isn’t working and friends organize to get them to their work or appointments? That’s community care. When a group o people work together to help a woman escape an abusive situation? That’s community care.
We are not in a place in our country where we can rely on large-scale community care. We do not have universal health care. In our own community, we struggle with access to medical care because of the closing of Cottage Hospital and a lack of providers. We do not have effective safety net programs for those experiencing poverty or homelessness. In our own community, we have few reliable services for those experiencing homelessness and we lack a central community center that can be used to help those in need. We do not have a national network of effective mental health care, and locally we have very few options for those experiencing a mental health crisis. So smaller, grassroots solutions are really the best options for providing care.
A great example of grassroots community care in Galesburg is the blessing boxes. There are 22 of these little pantries all over Galesburg. They are cared for and filled by members of our community, and anyone can take what they need (Galesburg Area Blessing Boxes 2021). There’s no charge to take food from the boxes, and there’s a large Facebook community of over 1800 members dedicated to keeping the boxes filled. The closest one to here is the one at the Galesburg Public Library, and it often needs refilling. It’s just one small way that we can provide a little extra community care for those in our town who might need food.
There are other great ways to practice community care- some of them are very interpersonal and some are a little bigger. Some ideas might include:
Watching someone’s child so they can go to the grocery store, take a nap, or take a shower
Asking someone what kind of support they need
Cooking or purchasing a meal for someone
Voting
Donating to blessing boxes, diaper banks, or food drives
Creating or joining a support group
Speaking out against racism, sexism, or other forms of hate speech.
These are just a few ideas, but the point is this. We can’t expect everyone to be able to take care of themselves. Elijah had God providing shelter and food. We need to do what we can to help others be cared for. We need to provide the safety and space for people to rest and to eat so that they, and we, can go on to fight for what’s important.
Amen.