Sabbathing

For past eight months or so I have been thinking about the idea of taking a Sabbath. I tend to lead a crazy life which often feels like a self-perpetuating thing that I try desperately to keep up with.

Take yesterday for example: I was racing home from school to pick something up before my next class and some advertisement for Valentine's Day came up on the radio and I thought to myself "Valentine's Day...isn't it a little early for that. And then I realized that it was actually February, the second week of February and I had somehow missed the last three weeks of life. It's horrible to realize that you still haven't done that thing or visited that person that you planned to visit.

I was talking with Josh a few weeks ago now and I said that there were all these things I wanted to start doing and how I needed to start taking a Sabbath but I hadn't done it yet. His advice, "Well you should do it Lisa."
And last week I did. I did some "sabbathing". I took a little time away to King's Fold Retreat Center. It was a lovely experience. (the picture if the view from the dining room.)

I did not have a huge spiritual revelation or completely sort out my life but it was good to go and spend time with God in the beautiful mountain scenary. I wanted to have some big prayer session or something but when I got there I felt like I could just walk through the valley there and just be with God. I rarely take the time to just be with him.

Strange that I don't take the time to be with God because I love just being with people. I used to think that maybe I was boring because of this. I used to think that I had no personality because I wanted to just do whatever or hang out. But I think the reality is that I am not boring, I just like to be. I like it when time can stop, where my mind isn't racing and where I can just be in the moment with people. There's are few things I love more than eating a tasty meal and talking for hours with those at the table.

And so perhaps part of Sabbathing is taking the time to just be with God. I wish I could explain this in some concrete way but I can't think of any other way to explain it. I don't want to talk in some strange Christianese manner. But I felt God's presence in a new way when I was at King's Fold. I felt as though he approved of me or was even pleased with me. That he had no agenda or expectation for things that needed to be fixed in my life but that he was just happy to watch me walk through his nature and experience his beauty and love in the peacefulness of the mountains. As if he could find pleasure in me when I was not doing anything productive but sitting by a fire and reading. What a strange and magical thought.