At least once every five years, I think it is important to pause and check one’s vocational pulse. You need to review where you have been, where you are, and where you sense God is calling you to be in the future.
Step one is to deliberately pull off for a day to engage in this review. It need not be an expensive retreat or an arduous trip. Look around your community and identify a decently sized church. It could be of your denomination but there might even be some advantage to picking a church of a different denomination just so you really have separated yourself from your work. Call up the pastor and ask if you might have permission to make use of the church’s library and either their chapel or sanctuary for a personal retreat. If he or she is available, you might also ask them if they would like to have lunch with you on that same day. As has been mentioned before, we don’t take enough time to build relationships with our colleagues in the neighborhood and this might be one opportunity to do so. s/he will be intrigued by your request and this might be an opportunity to encourage some reflection on his or her part as well.
Let your secretary and spouse know where you are in case of emergencies but otherwise let this be a day apart. If you have some sort of exercise routine, it would be good to begin the day with it. If not, plan to take an early morning walk to clear your mind. Eat a good breakfast and show up at the church between 8:30 and 9:00. The anticipation of the day, the clearing of your calendar, the choosing of a different spot, the exercise and the breakfast are all part of the process. Also, take along either a thermos of coffee or a cooler of cold drinks.
Tomorrow we will look at the day.
