Rest

Genesis 2:2 “and he (God) rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made.”

The creation account in the bible portrays God as a six day worker and hence, a Sabbath keeper. Last week I worked straight through the weekend. I had no choice it seemed. The work had to be done. This week, I was able to take off most of today. By take off, I mean really take it off. I gave very little thought, as I was at church, biking, grilling out, to the work of the upcoming week. And you know what? Life felt right again. I’m not a big proponent of living for the weekend. All that means is that you’re in the wrong job. But the stark contrast between one week without a weekend, and another with at least a day off demonstrated to me the pragmatic side of Sabbath. Granted there’s a holy side to it too, I believe. A day set aside to worship God in community should be the center of the show as opposed to just part of the package. But wisdom and worship seem to coincide when it comes to this Sabbath principle. Reconnection with God leads to refreshment and refreshment leads to reconnection with your sphere of the world for the rest of the week.

flushing first

We were going through my uncle-in-law's house, retrieving items for him and others in the family of sentimental value, since he's in an assisted living facility now and his mother died a number of months ago. Upon entry, I bee-lined for the bathroom. I was reticent, however, to do what I had to do since the house had been largely deserted for a few months. I wondered if the toilet still worked. So I figured I'd give it a flush first since my business in the bathroom was of the more substantial kind. Well it worked like a charm. So I did what I had to do, but when the deed was done, and I pushed down the handle a second time, it bounced back limply and made that clanky sound that says, "no water, chump". Damn! I thought. Had I not done the practice evacuation, then I would have had water for the real thing. After a foolish attempt to fill the back of the toilet with bottled water, I pilfered enough of it into a bucket from the neighbor's hose across the street to make the guano go down. The lesson in all this? Faith requires full commitment. Practice runs are for pansies. Or, more likely... when in recently deserted houses, don't flush first.

Richard Powers Quote

"We’re shaped to think the things we want will make us happy. But shaped to take only the briefest thrill in getting. Wanting is what having wants to recover." -Richard Powers (from his upcoming book Generosity)