Preparation

Many of us know the feeling. Your plane ticket sits in your inbox while you sit on the sofa daydreaming of what wonders await just beyond the horizon. The packing list lays on the table with nearly everything checked off. It could be something so simple as a trip home for the holidays (which will inevitably become a nightmare if you have my luck) or perhaps the vacation of a lifetime. In any case, enraptured with the looming adventure, you ponder what you might have overlooked.

I am certainly in that state of mind right now. Just over a week ago, my older sister departed for Asia. Her stress levels must have been higher than humanly possible, but I watched her thinking I was better prepared. This week proved my naivety. Health forms, malaria pills, appointments, finances, and everything else! How did I dupe myself so effortlessly? Nonetheless, Sabbath arrived just as it has so many times. Can I possibly find rest in it this time?

The rest of Sabbath - what is it like? Most of you know I worked at Sunset Lake Camp in Washington state this past summer. The last day of the week was actually the most taxing for me. Whether it was hiking and biking up mountains or setting up/running/tearing down programs multiple times, Saturday night approached with a promise of sleep. Despite this physical exertion, there was always a certain peace.

This upcoming year, I hope to once again find this peace. Will it be in the same place? Uh, no. Will it happen in the same way? Who am I to say? Will it still be that time where all else fades away? I do hope so. On this day of renewal, let's not only think about what it is we have survived yet again and what today is, but contemplate what we may do to impact most profoundly the world in which we all reside for the world in which we don't yet reside.