There are few people I trust to tell me what to do, especially when it comes to the intersection of work and spirituality.
As you may know, I wear a number of hats: I’m a freelance writer and an author, a nonprofit copywriter and an editor. But I also work part-time at an Episcopal church and dream of being called “priest” someday.
Ministry, whether it’s full-time or part-time, has always been a part of my vocational life. And learning the dance between boundaries of rest and work has always been necessary to my health.
As such, I was just delighted to see that an old-time friend, Justin McRoberts, was releasing a book on this very topic.
Justin gets it. He knows it. He lives it.
He’s a wise old soul who’s been there, done that, and as it turns out, much of his job now involves walking alongside others in art and spirituality to help them do the same.
Sacred Strides releases this coming Tuesday: do pick up a copy and support his work. In the meantime, enjoy this interview with him!
Cara Meredith: How are you coloring outside of the lines, all over again, when it comes to your writing and this book in particular?
Justin McRoberts: Oddly enough, this book process felt far more “basic” than previous efforts. I’ve done two of these in a row now and I’m ready to get back outside the standard book format for a while.
Where Sacred Strides does go outside the lines is in framing “Rest” and “Work” as practices rather than ends in-and-of themselves. I think the desire to work comes from what Parker Palmer calls our “relentless drive to be fully alive.” I think our desire for rest comes from the same place.I write it this way in the new book:
"My natural posture is not work,
nor is my natural posture rest.
My natural posture is belovedness.
Both work and rest
spring from my belovedness,
and return me to it.”
Cara Meredith: Putting ourselves out there when it comes to storytelling always feels a little scary. How was publishing scary and perhaps even vulnerable for you?
Justin McRoberts: Some of this book touches on the loss of my Dad to suicide and depression. Handing that over to a publisher feels… odd. Their job is to sell books. That story is a cornerstone of my soul. So, I feel a responsibility to share it. I think it’s helpful. I also know they’ll see my whole story through the lens of monetization. I’m not against that lens. BUT, it’s an odd navigation.
Cara Meredith: What is your heart, your intention, the real push behind writing this book?
Justin McRoberts: I keep working with and talking to artists and minsters who are “burned out” or feel alone. I don’t think resting enough or changing jobs is gonna turn the trick. I want to help folks re-frame those practices so that they can discover that, underneath ALL of it, they are perfectly loved and seen and cherished by The One Who Holds All Things Together.
Cara Meredith: Okay. We talk so much about audience when it comes to book-writing, but what did you learn about yourself along the way?
Justin McRoberts: Mostly, I remember a few things I think I was forgetting.
- that I love stories more than I love conclusions
- that I don’t get tired of people
- I also remembered a lot about detaching myself from utility; that I was truly rescued by Christ from some really awful industrial pitfalls.
Cara Meredith: Anything else from your ordinary, everyday life you want to share with us?
Justin McRoberts: My son has become a really good musician (drums and bass, mostly) and my daughter is developing a deep love for visual art.