A chance to get away
Julie and I had an opportunity to go up north to Petosky for a couple days without the kids this week. This was our first time leaving Liam with someone else over night. We came back refreshed and more in love with each other and with our kids.
A couple of observations:
We traveled 3 hours to do basically what we could have done within thirty minutes of home: we went to a movie, played miniature golf, saw a sunset on Lake Michigan, spent time in the pool and hot tub, watched ESPN, slept in, ate at some great restaurants . . . and I think the most important thing we did was travel three hours to do it.
We spent the three our trip up in nearly complete silence. Julie slept some, read some. I listened to some music, then turned it down and just drove through the alleys of pine trees up 131. It was decompression. After a great time together, the three hour trip home was spent in engaging conversation, some deeply personal stuff and some practical problem-solving marriage stuff. It was re-entry.
I think the trip was also good because it put real distance between us and all things familiar. Our life has been in "challenging" mode since the New Year, and there is perpetually one more thing to do than can be done. I have regularly borrowed Covey's phrase to describe it: The urgent gets in the way of the important. It turns out Space was the savior for the Important. I got myself away and I heard my wife. I heard God. I cherished my kids. Vision and passion were restored.
That is the essence of Sabbath, isn't it? Space to restore vision and passion. Because while the worship we offer with our lives is hard and constant, it is driven by this deep desire to see the Kingdom of God happen among us. Without Sabbath, what should be worship simply becomes work. Then we use what once was Sabbath for escape. We use this space we are given to hide from what is pounding us rather than to go after what can empower us, namely this restoration that we so desperately need.
This, to me, is a real flaw of the American Church. What we do on Sunday has little to do with Sabbath, and we have not discipled our communities to practice a Sabbath reality in their lives. What does Sabbath even look like for a faith community anymore? Can it be practiced corporately or is it an individual or family thing? I'm not sure I have any good answers; it took a three hour drive up the coast for me even to ask the question.
A couple of observations:
We traveled 3 hours to do basically what we could have done within thirty minutes of home: we went to a movie, played miniature golf, saw a sunset on Lake Michigan, spent time in the pool and hot tub, watched ESPN, slept in, ate at some great restaurants . . . and I think the most important thing we did was travel three hours to do it.
We spent the three our trip up in nearly complete silence. Julie slept some, read some. I listened to some music, then turned it down and just drove through the alleys of pine trees up 131. It was decompression. After a great time together, the three hour trip home was spent in engaging conversation, some deeply personal stuff and some practical problem-solving marriage stuff. It was re-entry.
I think the trip was also good because it put real distance between us and all things familiar. Our life has been in "challenging" mode since the New Year, and there is perpetually one more thing to do than can be done. I have regularly borrowed Covey's phrase to describe it: The urgent gets in the way of the important. It turns out Space was the savior for the Important. I got myself away and I heard my wife. I heard God. I cherished my kids. Vision and passion were restored.
That is the essence of Sabbath, isn't it? Space to restore vision and passion. Because while the worship we offer with our lives is hard and constant, it is driven by this deep desire to see the Kingdom of God happen among us. Without Sabbath, what should be worship simply becomes work. Then we use what once was Sabbath for escape. We use this space we are given to hide from what is pounding us rather than to go after what can empower us, namely this restoration that we so desperately need.
This, to me, is a real flaw of the American Church. What we do on Sunday has little to do with Sabbath, and we have not discipled our communities to practice a Sabbath reality in their lives. What does Sabbath even look like for a faith community anymore? Can it be practiced corporately or is it an individual or family thing? I'm not sure I have any good answers; it took a three hour drive up the coast for me even to ask the question.
posted by ben price at 12:33 AM
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