Easy Yoke.
There is a trap I fall into where I think the past was better than the present. This is often confused with nostalgia, where we feel positive emotions about a specific aspect of the past. I differentiate them because one is merely a mental feeling, and the other is false thinking. The past had equal or more struggles than now. They were just different. I'm sure there are a handful of stats that support this, but the main one I imagine is infant mortality. It seems like a pretty universal agreement that infants are a good thing for the world. Yet, raising them is one of the most challenging parts of the human experience. Maybe that's hyperbolic, but that's what I've felt and experienced.
There are aspects of life that feel so full and complicated that I want to avoid them, ignore them until they disappear. However, that won't change anything. Actively engaging them when I can seems to be the only way forward. That could also be why I'm at such a low point; I feel the responsibility to care for and steward so many things. This ranges from my wife and daughter, dogs, rabbits, house plants, the garden, our home, work, and the list could go all the way down to the pen I journal with. All of it feels like I am a critical leg that upholds them. I'm sure I need to let some things go, but it's hard to separate what is essential and what is superfluous when my mind is fatigued. Jesus talks about how his yoke is easy, and I want to feel that easy yoke. I don't think it's healthy or correct to view these responsibilities as burdens when they become challenging to manage. It seems like Jesus is calling us to a way of being that distributes the load. That's where a healthy community becomes extremely relevant. When a healthy community is lacking or requires a lot more input than putting out support, it's no wonder I'm struggling.
