White Wave Manifesto: Ecclesiastical Vacation

In repentance and rest is your salvation, in quietness and trust is your strength,

            but you would have none of it. (Isaiah 30:15)

                     He makes me lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside quiet waters. (Psalm 23:2)

"In our product-driven society, work, especially networking, makes us feel important and productive.
Of course it may also make us feel cranky, put upon, overtired, frustrated, thwarted,
bored, and miserable-but who has time to think of that?
Who wants time to think of that.
We do. We just may not know that we do." (Julia Cameron, Vein of Gold)

We still talk about it.

That trip we took to the Redwoods two years ago. We had driven all day to get there. The sun was starting to set, so we pulled over into the nearest picnic area we could find and entered into a whole new world. It was amazing. Some of the trees had been standing there since the days of Christ. Our middle son, seven at the time, bailed out of the car before I came to a complete stop and began running from tree to tree until he found a snag that he could climb.  Up he went and from his elevated rostrum shouted joyfully into the maritime dusk, "Thank you! Thank you! Thank you for taking me to this place. I have been dreaming of this place my whole life!"

We need to get away. We know it...even if we don't because when we don't, we get cranky and miserable and bored. Life loses it's liveliness. There's a reason that many employers encourage their employees to take vacation time...they are more productive when they do and those around them like them better when they get back.

It's the same way with the church.  We need time off. We need to re-consider the idea of ecclesiastical vacation.  When was the last time we took a vacation as a church family?  There isn't a Biblical mandate to take four weeks off, but there is a mandate to rest; to enter into quietness and trust.  How much vacation time do you receive at work?  Do you take it all. You should. It isn't just a good idea, it is "your salvation."  

But do we believe it?  Do we really trust that the church can exist for four weeks without our input and our wisdom and our hard work?  It really is the question.  It isn't a question of whether or not we can stop. It is a question of whether or not we really trust that God will move when we stop.

There are, of course, some practical considerations when taking an ecclesiastical vacation just as their are practical consideration when heading to the Redwoods.  For example, the chickens need to be fed and the mail needs to be picked up and the flowers need to be watered. The point in leaving home is, in part, that we can't do the things that we normally do.  Likewise, when we leave our church home it has to be long enough and far enough away that we can't do the things that we normally do. Arrangements will have to be made for the lawn to be mowed and the bills to be paid.  Staff needs to be informed that they are not to stop by the office and answer phones or do correspondence.  The point is that we actually leave the church.  It will be okay.

And we will be freed up to go see the Redwoods or experience a different kind of worship. Our souls might be fed while hiking a fourteener in Colorado. We can listen to God's word and not worry about preaching or singing or ushering or greeting. Or, perhaps our sacred desk is a fly-fishing stream or a week taking in the culture of the city. Maybe we can find our very own, two-thousand year-old Redwood snag and clamor up to new heights and exclaim with new excitement in our voices, "Thank you! Thank you! Thank you, Lord, for taking me to this place. I have been dreaming of this place my whole life!"

Church Stopping. Less doing. More being.