Some of you may remember that my January started with finding a devotional in a box marked "Free." It is entitled A Year of Days with the Book of Common Prayer by Bishop Edmond Lee Browning. While I do not necessarily read it every day (there certainly is no shortage of devotionals during Lent), I am grateful for this gift, and I often return to it.
The March 17 entry has stayed with me. I often find myself in conversations that center on balance. The balance needed in relationships, whether the relationship is with our own bodies, with those we worship and serve with, with those we love. The balance needed whether we are under or over employed. The balance needed to live creatively, lovingly, and yes, happily.
Because I have had so many of these conversations, I am going to include the entry here. It is longer than my usual postings, but if you, like I, often find yourself hungering and thirsting for balance, this may help. If not, perhaps pass it on, or simply say a short prayer for the world and then press delete.
If we do not take the time for ourselves and our families, here is what will happen: We will stop wanting to. If we do not take the time to feel the things we are feeling, we will stop feeling them. It will be more convenient not to. We will be more efficient. And inside, we will be almost dead. We will become addicted to the busyness of our lives, unable to feel at home unless we are running at top speed. And our families will make their lives without us, find their comforts elsewhere. And we will be in our offices, at our meetings, and we won't know what happened.
You must assert your need to gather strength from the right places, or you may try to gather it from the wrong ones. So many of the things are related to this: alcoholism, substance abuse, sexual abuse. These tragedies have touched some of our best and brightest. Take care of yourself appropriately, or you may find a way to care for yourself inappropriately.
God did not call you into family life and working life in order that you might become angry and sick and dead inside. God called you to abundant life. Not every day is a wonderful day. But every day belongs to you, a gift to you from a gracious God. Reclaim your days. Find and savor their sweetness, even if you must do so through tears. Don't let a single one pass in a blur of responsibility and work. A day is too precious a thing to waste. You never get it back.
Blessings to each of you as we prepare to enter Holy Week. Let's follow Jesus' example and travel humbly for the journey is not always easy. The good news is that any defeat we must face will never have the last word. That word has always belonged to God, in fact is God, and God is love. It is a living word, meant to be heard through whispers, songs, and shouts. It can never be entombed and silenced for long.
Blessed be.
I really do love your writing. As well as the rest of you.
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