Sabbath.

A couple of weekends ago, a buddy and I traveled about 100 miles east to camp out in a huge riverhouse (it was plush) alongside the Tennessee River.  Needless to say, although I will say it, it was the most relaxing time I’d had in a while.  To be frank, even though my name is ricky, it was the most relaxing time I’d experienced since visiting that same riverhouse some 6 months before.  I found myself taking in the fresh river air, walking through the countryside, & falling into the scriptures with a sense of renewal and restoration that my soul DESPERATELY needed.

I stood guilty as charged.  NO SABBATH!  Spent most of the weekend telling myself, “I’ve got to get away more often!”  Problem is, if I fail to do some intentional things (right now) to help reach that goal I know that my ‘get away and rest’ muscles will atrophy once more.  My confession, and it’s becoming more of a dark one, is that I struggle obeying God’s command for Sabbath rest.  It’s the oft ‘excused absence’ when it comes to the commandments is it not?  After all, our world celebrates productivity and belittles the age old art form of isolation in the presence of God.  I don’t think of myself of a workaholic yet but my habits disagree with me.  Too many times I sell myself and my faith short for the sake of ‘working hard for the Kingdom’ and ‘sacrifice’.

The thing is that negating our Sabbath responsibility is somewhat ‘legitimized.’  We tell ourselves, “I don’t have time” or “This thing is just really important right now” only to replace them with something else as important the next time Sabbath comes around.  But concerning Sabbath God is not asking for our opinion or our propensity to dealmaking.  He says ‘Honor the Sabbath and keep it holy’…in other words, “I’m not concerned with your opinion on this one – DO IT.”  How many of us couldn’t imagine cheating on our wives or dishonoring our parents?  Why don’t we have the same indignation towards disobeying the Sabbath commandment?

I recently lost about 90 lbs.  It was hard.  It took discipline.  It took a life change.  But I did it because I experienced a soul level understanding that my life depended on it.  The older I get the more I realize that the projects, the ministries, the church emergencies, etc…are gonna ‘be there’.  They’ll always be replaced with the next issue, the next task, the next season.  The issue is, that it’ll be the same worn out me.  And what’s worse is that I’m in no better shape to tackle what’s before me because most of me is still exhausted from the last run of things.  But beyond all this, there is soul level intimacy and communion I’m CHEATING myself on.  There are silent laughters and smiles that my Father in Heaven is longing to share that I’m missing out……..and that’s depressing.

At the Riverhouse, while walking through the pristine countryside with my headphones on, I felt the Holy Spirit whisper to me these words, “Take off the headphones.  I’ve got some music I want you to hear.”  In obedience, and it was hard, I took off the headphones and sat under a tree.  I saw and heard stuff I’d not paid attention to in Lord knows when.  I heard birds chirping.  I looked at the fainting color of the leaves on the trees.  I watched cows grazing and smelled fragrant air. I sat under a tree and  watched the world move slowly past me.

A reminder to myself and to you that the Father’s soundtrack is still the greatest hit of all time.  The solitude of His creation coupled with the bliss that is His presence is often the one piece missing in the jigsaw of our lives.  May the coming weeks for you and me be filled with riverwalks, prayer retreats, park benches, journal writing, and sunshine.  Sabbath.

Here’s to Normal

I’m working on a “10 for ’10″ list.  Honestly, there’ll probably be more like several lists.  To be sure I’m usually on the New Year’s Resolution bandwagons and to be surer, I’m perfectly guilty of being more excited about writing up the dream then fleshing it out.  Incidentally, I’m guilty of overusing Christianese words and phrases like “fleshing it out” and “wrestling with that tension”…yikes.  One of those lists that I’m creating (most of them are still in my head) is a commitment to blog more…at least once a week.  I’m promising to only blog what I feel and not use it as a Twitteriffic way to let you know that I’m grocery shopping or wondering what makes pudding keep in the fridge for so darn long.  Yeah, I promise to delve deeper into writing, bear even more transparence (love writing in my journal) and hope with desperation not to leave dreams and missions to die on pen and paper.

Today was a normal day.  Good workout in the morning and then a light breakfast.  Now I should say that the day before I failed to sleep writing a Greek Exegetical paper that I’ve been running from all semester.  But I feel great about the paper and I’m still hoping for an A.  After breakfast I lounged a bit and it was off to, surprisingly, what has become one of my favorite places – the Laundry mat.  Months ago when I first visited I remember thinking, “I can’t believe I’m going to a laundry mat.”  But as I pulled out my unmentionables (yeah, people see my underwear there…weird) and got to busting suds..or watching the machines do so, a whiff of nostalgia struck in the most insatiable way.  I remembered (for I had forgotten) that as wee youngsters we’d accompany my mom to the laundry mat!  These were those humble days before we arrived and got a Sears card for a new washer/dryer.  Yeah there were many an afternoon spent playing around the old mat while my mom chopped it up with other sisters from our church…they were good, simple, normal times.

So I find myself frequenting the Madison Avenue laundry mat (across from the Piggly Wiggly…if you don’t know what that is, that’s why God gave us google) every couple of weeks or so.  It’s so normal it’s like an escape that parallels a new exhibit at the museum or a visit to your old high school…keeps you watching.  The lady that runs the place missed her calling as a Sage who is a regular on the Oprah show or a stand up comedian who could’ve easily been fair competition for Richard Pryor.  She’s the show stopper.  When she walks out of her little dusty office, you can see the other women perking up as if they are certain the coming conversation will earn all of their intrigue.  Today’s topic – Tiger Woods.  Now one should know that this Mat lady can chase conversational rabbits with such Southern eloquence that, (I’ll admit it) I don’t want her to stop because her rhythmic delivery is the kind that must’ve been passed along; absorbed through osmosis like experiences from grandmothers, madeas, aunties and such.  No way anyone can be this smooth, impressive, sassy, and hilarious without some help along the way!  So the ladies jumped into Tiger’s defense.  It’s funny.  Had Tiger cheated on a black wife the conversation, I’m only assuming, would’ve gone drastically different.  There were outcries filling our little laundry mat as I folded my clothes like, “They needs to leave him alone!” and “Who knows what mess she’s into!” and “All he gone do is go and hit that ball again in that lil ole hole and everybody gone forget this!”  There were times when I had to literally fold my arms, bend down, and buckle with laughter!  They know it too.  They know that this weekly and bi-weekly visit to the luandry mat is a place where their hair is already down; no one to impress, we’re all folding clothes…no one to ‘talk right around’…we’re all country and simple.  In a way this freedom purifies the experience.  For 2 hours you know, unlike a barber’s haircut or a hairstylist’s comb, exactly what you’re going to get-funny and provocative convo about hot topics, quick updates from friends, and if this weren’t enough – fresh, clean clothes.

Today was a normal day.  Chilly air outside and a warm slice of Memphis inside a place I’ll refer here out as “the Mat.”  2010 is coming…I pray I’ll do not only a good job of gospel livin’, bein’ missional, and charging hills, but also relish the slices of life I too often forget called blissful normalcy.  Amen.

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