(Photo from www.freeimages.com #241817)
Three hours and three stores later, we made our way back home. He was a great help, so as a result, I took him to the toy store as a reward. Then, our Sabbath began. Our middle son and I explored the woods in the freshly fallen snow. Our oldest son and I went to play basketball at the gym. Our family watched a movie and played Monopoly. It was good.
But there was a little edge.
Nothing major. Just a little selfishness among brothers. A few unkind words here and chores forgotten over there. There has been a general lack of patience sprinkled with brief moments of joy; but the mirth is like a sprinkle on a glazed donut...it looks good but doesn't have much substance.
It's a bit of a puzzle. After all, the kids have stayed healthy, even with the flu going around. They have slept in, eaten well, and had a great Christmas. Company came. Santa came. Jesus had a birthday. There just hasn't been a lot to complain about.
Maybe it is just cabin fever. Maybe it is the pile of laundry that accumulated when we had oodles of company and lost focus of our daily routine. Or, maybe, it is just time for the Movie Date.
Maybe it is high time.
It's been an annual tradition for the two of us the last two years; the Movie Date. My wife and I, in January, go to see the latest release from Middle Earth via Peter Jackson. The only difference with the Movie Date verses a normal movie date is that only my wife goes. She goes by herself. I watch the kids. Then, after she has watched the movie, we switch. She stays and I go. It's three hours away from the children, three hours away from the house, and (gasp!) three hours away from one another. (We do get together after the move and compare notes.)
It seems counter-intuitive, but it is true. The three hours from our children helps us to be better parents. The three hours away from the house helps us to appreciate our blessings. The three hours away from one another helps our marriage. It's a break from the usual routine and three hours seems like a blink of an eye.
A similar promise is wrapped around the command to Sabbath. A period of time away from our lives helps us to truly be alive:
And He was saying to them, "The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath."
- Mark 3:27
The mind that comes to rest is tended
In ways that it cannot intend;
Is borne, preserved, and comprehended
By what it cannot comprehend.
- Wendell Berry (Sabbaths)
It's counter-intuitive, but if you feel edgy, or selfish, or unkind, or your faith seems like a chore you would rather forget, maybe you just need to stop. Maybe for a day. Maybe for a week. Maybe for a year. Or, maybe you just need your own Movie Date.
Church Stopping. Less Doing. More Being.
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