Holy Time Out

Good Morning All,

I returned home from working out this afternoon; no need to be impressed; haven’t been to the Rex Wellness Center for quite some time. Feeling a bit virtuous nonetheless, but I’m sure this too shall pass. :) After dinner I thought I would catch up with some phone messages but as I passed through the living room, “what to my wondering eyes should appear?”--A young buck eating grass in the back yard. He must have seen my movement through the window as he stopped and seemed to stare right at me. I moved to get a better view and he saw me again. This went on for another 15 minutes or so until he headed off down to the creek in the woods.

It’s good to stand still and to observe one of God’s seemingly gentle and curious creatures grazing in the yard; all the while ever vigilant of his surroundings. For a brief few moments I found myself transported from the everyday tugs on my life to a world that gives me the gift of a deer grazing in the early evening light. And just as suddenly as the deer appeared, my thoughts turned to the news that the body of Nancy Cooper, the woman who left home to go jogging last Saturday morning, was found less than a mile from where the deer and I were standing...to think that something as horrific as the murder of a young mother had taken place nearby just a few days before.

Experiencing the deer’s presence, up close and personal and then knowing that a death had taken place near my home, only serves to remind me for the gazillionth time, that life IS fragile.

And I’m always left wondering why it takes the extremes of life’s experiences to teach me this invaluable lesson. Somehow most of us find ourselves being torn in so many directions each day; allowing little or no time for self or family; to take time to not only smell the roses, but to see an owl take flight or to hear the lament of a hawk in a distant tree; to see children at play; to visit with a dear friend; a spouse; a parent; a child or teenager; to share laughter.

Why can’t we simply slow down long enough to take time to play; time to listen; time to relax; time to pray for strength and courage; peace and justice; time to sort through the problem areas of life—making a way through any financial hardships we might be experiencing; unemployment or having to work several jobs to make ends meet; relationship concerns; health challenges—of our own of someone we love; or sorting through the clutter of our lives…

We go about the hectic pace from day to day as if it were the demands of our life that really mattered. When what REALLY matters is taking some “holy time out” to be with those who matter and to do the things that matter. And during this “holy time out” to remember that God is in all of life with us; walking in front, leading the way; walking beside us as a friend and partner; walking behind us, prodding us, nudging us to keep moving ahead.

Oh, we of little faith; how faith-less we are each time we think we must go it alone. How quickly we forget that the One who calms the storms of life is as close as a prayer; as is the One who takes our burdens and makes the load a whole lot lighter; the One who is in the stillness of the moment; the One who stands ready to guide us; the One who transports us from where we are to where God wants and needs us to be...

Thanks be to God…the One to whom we can return over and over again when life is filled with paradoxes; confusion; emptiness and uncertainty; the One to whom we can turn when life makes absolutely no sense; who promises to be with us always...beginning right here and now...in the fragility of this day...Life is Fragile—Handle with Prayer...

Blessings, Joanne