Dear Gary and Purl,
I'm getting a little off topic but I wanted to tell you about something. I'm currently reading a book called QUAKER SUMMER upon the recommendation of Katrina over at Callapidder Days. I'm very particular about Christian fiction. I often find it to be either over the top or extremely "precious" or both. However, I really like this one so far. It is about a wealthy woman who has everything but is disillusioned and lost. Her spending habits are out of control and she can't seem to find her place in the world. At one point, she and her exhausted surgeon husband talk about escaping on a vacation.
"See, we fritter away our lives making enough to provide ourselves with four-star accomodations when we crawl home each night, and when all that isn't enough, when our bones are pitted and our muscles wasted, when our hearts are emptied out and imploded, we just want to get away from the reminders of our own foolishness."
That really rings true for me. It is so easy to get caught up in our daily lives. There is a book I hope we can read later called SABBATH that talks about creating sacred time in our lives. It is so important to do that so we don't get lost and burned out.
The book is really great so far and I'll let you know how it goes. Until then, I'll finish up the next section of Lewis.
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I have heard that Sabbath is really good. Christian fiction doesn't sound good to me; on the whole, I don't like genre fiction unless it is well written.
But I need to be more open minded. Look forward to hearing what you think.
Malady, what a timely post! I have been struggling with this exact topic and, in fact, had written about it in my journal this morning.
I awoke about an hour before my alarm went off this morning and I couldn't go back to sleep. My mind was racing, so I lay there and just felt the weight of my body on the mattress and listened to the birds singing outside the window.
As I concentrated on these things, my mind started to become quiet and calm. I just let myself float. Then, some thoughts began to come into my head. I realized how much time and energy I invest into silly, wasteful activities. I thought about all the reckless things I say and do to the people I love, how self-absorbed I can be, and all the money I waste just so I can be distracted and not have to deal with my real life.
I wasn't trying to beat myself up or anything, but during that 5 minutes of clarity and solitude I could finally feel myself wanting to make a real effort to honor myself and the people I care about. It was the same kind of message in the passage you cited from "Quaker Summer." I would like to hear more about it, if you're inclined.
Please add "Sabbath" to our reading list. I want to learn how to create those sacred times during my day. It's like putting a stake in the sand - something to hold onto until the storm passes. Something to keep us from getting lost in our own lives.
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