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Tuesday, September 19, 2006
Holy R&R
"Come ye apart," says the King James Version of Mark 6:31.
Imagine Jesus telling his disciples to fall apart! As if most of us would need any help doing that, what with life's usual stresses and strains.
Of course, what he's really calling them to do is,"Come away... and rest a while."
Working hard at the discipleship business, they've earned a well-deserved break. So Jesus takes them off on a spiritual retreat.
That's the model for our church family's annual fall getaway to the redwoods of Sonoma County. We gather at St. Dorothy's Rest, an Episcopal conference center about 70 miles from Alameda. The rustic buildings and pleasant grounds create a happy hideaway where we can get to know each other in new ways. And get better acquainted with God, too, as we sing and pray and study and play our way through the weekend.
It happened again this last weekend. Our teaching leader was Karl Shadley, co-pastor of a multi-cultural church in Berkeley. His theme, "Alive Together in Christ," came from the Letters to the Ephesians and to Philemon. [Pastor Jack says check 'em out!] Youth and children had their own learning sessions on the same theme. All of us, from kids to retirees, got to sing and dance, even muck about with clay a bit, applying right on the spot what it means to belong together in God's new family.
I call our retreat a "getaway," in a "hideaway." It's all of that for sure -- a chance to break away from business as usual for some rest and recreation.
But I hope and pray that "business as usual" will never be a fair description of your life and mine. For we're called to live every new day as an adventure in faith and faithfulness.
It's only human, of course, to organize everything into manageable portions, which all too easily leads into a numbing repetition and meaningless activity. And that's the way we tend to fall apart. Apart from God's purpose... Apart from each other... Apart even within ourselves.
That's what the Bible calls spiritual death. (See Ephesians 2:1-10, "You were dead through the trespasses and sins in which you once lived...." Trespasses = doing what we shouldn't; Sins = falling short of what we're meant to do and be. Conclusion = fractured relationships with God and with people!)
Spiritual life, God's free gift just because God loves us, fills all of life with meaning and purpose.
Ephesians 2:14-16 says Christ has re-created us, removing all barriers of hostility and making peace, to reconcile us with God and with each other. I belong to God. You belong to God. Ergo, we belong to each other. So let's make the most of it -- together!
Karl shared stories about how this works in real life, from his experience pastoring a church composed of typical Americans, Chinese immigrants, and several people born and raised in Europe, Africa, and Latin America.
It was their songs and dances we learned over the weekend. It was their growing love for Christ and for each other that we resonated with, re-learning for ourselves what it means to share together "the joy of salvation."
Away those few days from "life as usual," we refocused our hearts and minds on every Christian's everyday baseline commitment: To know God more clearly, love God more fully, and serve God's purpose more gladly every day.
When we share that threefold goal together, a minor miracle happens. We come to know and love and serve each other day by day as well.
posted by Jack Buckley at
11:27 AM
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