(Today, I make my way home from the Dominican Republic. I’d appreciate your prayers:
- 10:00am (ET) – Bus from Jarabacoa to Santo Domingo
- 12:30pm (ET) – Ride from a Journey pastor here to the airport
- 4:15pm (ET) – Flight to Panama City, Panama.
- 7:00pm (CT) – Flight to LAX
- 12:00am (PT) – Land LAX, clear customs, my son Sean drives me home. Whew!)
* * *
“…today many of us have been conditioned by efficiency that such times [of just sitting on the porch] feel unproductive, irresponsible, lazy, even selfish. We know we need rest, but we can no longer see the value of rest as an end in itself; it is only worthwhile if it helps us recharge our batteries so we can be even more efficient in the next period of productivity.” (Gerald May. The Awakened Heart. San Francisco: HarperSanFrancisco, 1991, p. 94-95.)
In his insightful book, The Awakened Heart, Gerald May exposes our inability to enter fully into times of just being with God, let alone with others, or even with our own thoughts, feelings and God-given desires. Is my experience of rest utilitarian (“recharging my batteries”), or can I see it as a grace-gift of God to me, an invitation to enter into His own rest, His own presence. Can I receive days or moments of rest as days full of meaning, rather than resisting them as days empty of productivity?
This has captured my thoughts lately. And I still struggle with my hyper-efficiency orientation. I struggle to simply receive the gift of a Sabbath day, or a few moments of break. Some engine still revs in me even during these moments. What about you? What has been your experience with “entering into rest”?
Definitely praying for you as you travel home. It sounds like it’s been a very productive time spent in DR.
In light of your question about “entering into rest”, one of the things that I’ve noticed is that the long day of travel can become an entering into rest. Granted I am typically stressed to no end until I get through security, but once I’m through, I can let it go and enter into rest, knowing that all I have to do is make sure that I’m on the plane. When you think of it, it is a rare experience to be removed from our cell phones. When you fly, you have to turn them off. It is a delight to sit in the rest and care knowing that you are limited on what you can do. So why not sit back, enjoy the ride, enjoy the silence or embrace in a conversation with the person next to you?
Enjoy the friendly skies my friend.
Matthew
Thank you, Matthew. You do a lot more travelling than I do. I have found that it can be a kind of “unhurried time” for me. Also, being the Dominican Republic where my phone didn’t work for me was a kind of detachment that helped me inside. Interesting what God uses to grow us…
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