Vacations, July 2015

I went for a short walk the other night mostly because I wanted to listen to a few new songs I had just purchased for my Ipod.  There’s nothing like some familiar songs to get you moving.

When I returned home I sat on the porch and listened a little longer.  I realized while sitting there that I do not do that a lot anymore.  Usually, when I listen to music, I am doing something along with it.

I mentioned this to my husband, recalling how when I was younger I could sit in my room for hours on end listening to the Beatles, Elton John or Anne Murray.  What did we do all that time while the record player was going? I don’t remember actually doing anything other than just sitting and listening. Maybe drawing?  I don’t recall. The most important thing seemed to be trying to get the words right and hit a few notes on key every now and then.

There is a lot of value in just sitting and doing nothing from time to time, but active adults don’t do much of that anymore.  We think we are too busy.  Besides, it probably feels too much like wasting time, something in our culture today that is akin to laziness.  I think that is really sad.

Scripture tells us that even Jesus, as busy as he was going from city to city, took the time to go up on the mountain to be with the Father.  Sometimes he gathered everybody together as well.  Maybe he sensed they needed a break from the tension going on around them and the work they had yet to do.  Maybe it was his way of saying, “Hey, you can’t do this if you don’t rest with me.”  I am sure there were a lot of things they could have been doing, but he showed them, quite clearly, that nothing was as important, at that moment, as spending time with him.

That evening on the porch melted into more quiet time in the house, where I relaxed and enjoyed the peace.  I definitely do not do that enough.  How can we “go on mission” (we are sent at the end of every Mass), if we do not spend some time being renewed?

Listening to my new music, which was actually quite old, (it was from my high school years), I was transported in time.  Friends from years ago came to mind and my travel to the 70s left me with this pervasive sentiment that I couldn’t quite grasp. 

It’s funny how music can immediately take you back to a place and time you haven’t thought about in awhile. It’s like the lyrics in the Styx song Come Sail Away:  “I look to the sea, reflections in the waves spark my memory, some happy, some sad, I think of childhood friends and the dreams we had.“

 

Maybe we should “waste” time more often.  I think a healthy pace in life is good for the soul, and that must include some down time.  But I don’t think it should just come in waves like once or twice a year in scheduled vacation time; it should be built into a regular part of our day or week. 

If we do this, then maybe it would help us avoid the idea that we can “bank” our resting time, in order to use it during that limited time off. This is not only impossible, but not particularly helpful to us during the rest of the year.

There is a tendency, from what I have seen, to want to pack too much into that short period of time known as a vacation, only to find ourselves coming back exhausted, rather than re-energized.  

Why not just plan a day or two, here and there, in order to play more throughout the year?

I must say, the last time my husband and I went away for a weekend, we gave ourselves permission to do nothing.  We didn’t plan our days at all.  We did whatever we felt like, whenever we felt like it.  We had so much fun and came back so refreshed.  Admittedly, we didn’t go anywhere that could even remotely be considered exotic (Michigan doesn’t have those kinds of places), but the best part of all was that, when we returned, we didn’t feel like we needed another vacation in order to recover from the one we’d just had!

Now, I don’t want you to get the impression that I am somehow against amazing vacations in far-off lands, because those can be invigorating, too.  But if they include over-stuffed agendas (as they often do), I wouldn’t think that would be particularly relaxing.  Of course, maybe it’s just me.  I don’t survive in the crazy very long.  In fact, I am someone who can find spiritual retreats too busy at times!

When I was a kid, we always gathered with friends on the front porch and hung out.  Today, we would look rather idle, but back then, it was normal. Since we are fresh out of mountains around here, I think Jesus, would recommend more porch sitting. 

In fact, I can almost hear him singing a little Simon and Garfunkel, “Hear my words that I might teach you, take my arms that I might reach you.”

Oh yeah, the words of the prophets are definitely “whispered in the sounds of silence.”  Have you been listening lately?