Time Off

In early July I told you I was taking a month off. I had visions of relaxing on my screened-in porch for hours every day. I would commit to living in the moment, free from stress and worry. I would evict the chattering monkeys that take up residence in my brain.

A month later I am back to say unfortunately, that wasn’t what happened.

What did happen is that I learned a lot about myself during my July sabbatical. I learned that I can turn off some of my thoughts and concerns, but by no means all of them. I can carve out brief moments of relaxation but I can’t truly relax.

That truth added another dimension to my vision of heaven. I think that only in heaven can we finally relax, really relax, forever.

In order to truly relax my mind in this world, I find I have to just not think about much of what is going on. I can’t think about the starving babies in Gaza or the escalating need for food in our local food pantries.  I have to quickly shift my focus when thoughts enter my mind about health challenges in my family or friends. Denial seems to be the best path to relaxation. But that’s not right.

In heaven, I think you finally relax, even though all the stressful stuff is still going on in the world. People you love are still hurting and struggling. The world is hurting and struggling, but you finally are able to see the big picture. There is a knowledge of the true meaning of things that is difficult to achieve this side of heaven.

In heaven there are no worries, no fretting, no efforts at changing people or situations. No judgments, resentments, or hurts to occupy our minds. There is only total acceptance, contentment, and bliss. A true relaxing into the power and the love of God. Why can’t we do that here and now?

Imagine your average day if you could keep your mind in a state of total acceptance and contentment.  What if you could completely relax into the power and the love of God? That is key to the true relaxation that eludes us.

Taking a month off was a smart thing to do to recharge my Firstfruit’s battery for our fifteenth season that begins soon. That much I have learned. What I still haven’t learned is how to take time off from everything else that weighs on my mind. I need to learn to hand it all over to the power and the love of God.

I’ll keep trying. Will you join me?

Joan