Summer has only just begun.
The warmth that beckons shorts, tank tops and bare feet. The shift from indoor work to growing flowers and vegetables. Then there is the break from work, from school (from the pandemic).
It is a season of altered reality, with sometimes tropical temperatures, reshaped schedules, more sunlight, a hiatus from work and rest.
As I sat outside the other evening, after a day of record-breaking temperatures, I did … nothing. Though I’d brought a book and my computer outside to read or write, not one moment of producing, accomplishing was had.
I just sat.
I listened to the (few) cars pass by on a busy roadway, admired the cloudless sky, inhaled the varied scent of so many summer flowers, felt the heat of the air on my skin, like a comforting, weighted blanket. My neighbor was outside watering flowers with his preschooler, my dog snoring in the chair beside me.
I realized that I was relaxed, at ease. Body, mind and soul united with my surroundings. Simply put, I (just) was … and it was good.
As one who likes being in movement, is fueled by productivity, this was a unique and wonderful experience.
Though I was not accomplishing or producing, I felt my inactivity was producing something great … rest was refueling my body, my mind, my soul.
After feeding the five thousand, Jesus said to his disciples, “Let’s go off by ourselves to a quiet place and rest awhile.” (Mark 6:31)
After a wild day of meeting the needs of others, Jesus taught (by word and example) that refreshment, rest was warranted.
After this past winter, as this pandemic response eases, after a season of restrictions, and challenges, and so little of the things that normally refresh us in the midst of work and routine … this summer is a perfect time for rest.
So, go off by yourselves, to a quiet place and listen to the birds, stop and smell the flowers, look up at the sky and feel the heat warm your skin … and be refreshed.
itsawonderfilledlife 