Sometimes we can get so mired down in the daily details that we can lose perspective. Even if you are doing things that you love and are satisfying, if you are constantly moving from one thing to the next, you can easily run out of energy. Somewhere I read that one of the meanings of the Hebrew word for Sabbath is the sense of pausing to catch one’s breath. So, following the creation story, after six days God paused to catch God’s breath and was able to look on the larger picture of creation. It was here that God was able to pronounce an evaluation and say that it was very good.
One of the ways to take care of your self is to occasionally take a little time to step back, breathe in, and refresh your view of what you are doing. This can be by going off on an afternoon retreat at some setting within an hour’s drive or simply sitting in a coffee shop. Take along a pad of paper but don’t begin by writing. Begin by simply letting your life in the church flow through your mind. Allow images of what has been happening that is satisfying and what has been disappointing move through your mind without dwelling on any one point. Simply let it flow like a river passing before your gaze. Don’t rush but allow your mind to lift up some of the deeper images as well as the most immediate ones.
Having spent some time doing that, next permit yourself to begin to imagine what might happen that would bring you satisfaction. Again, at this point don’t deal with the details but simply the images. During this time make some brief notes to capture the basic ideas that occur. What you are doing is capturing some thoughts of what the future could look like.
Tomorrow we will look at the next step, but even this process may well provide some oxygen that can revive your energy.
