Limited

I have been running a lot lately. No, not the miles kind of running, though I have been running a good number of those, too. The kind of running I have been doing requires much more stamina than my marathon training. I find that lately I am running, running between meetings, running to appointments, running to sport practices, running to the grocery store, running late. It seems that no matter where I am or what I am doing, I am running. Now, don’t get me wrong. I love to run. There is nothing like lacing up my sneakers and heading out alone for a few miles. But, this kind of running is just not fun.

I don’t want to complain, but I can honestly say that this running is a real pain. I find that it leaves me breathless, and usually this happens before noon. This running is wearing me out and wearing my patience thin. I want nothing more than to stop running and catch my breath. I just don’t know how. Just when I think I can stop, something spurs me on. There is another meeting, another task, an extra practice, a can’t-miss opportunity. Just when I think I can’t put one foot in front of the other, I am pushed to keep going because “this is an emergency” or something requires immediate attention. I have become the running man and if it continues it just might kill me.

Lest I be viewed as soliciting pity, when I look up I see that you are running too, not with me, but running just the same. We pass one another in-between meetings and appointments. We both shake our heads, not at one another, but at our watches because we are both running late. We don’t even have time to say a quick “Hello” because we have no breath to spare. The time we sit next to one another at sports practice is no rest, for we both are plugged in and plugging away at what we didn’t finish before we rushed out the door to catch the school bus or to relieve the sitter. I can tell that you are having just about as much fun as I am, which for the record is not a lot. I can see in your eyes that you are not just tired but you are sick and tired of living this way, but like me you don’t seem to know any other way.

What if life could be different? What if there was space between our loads and our limits? What if we didn’t have to accomplish more than we had the time or energy for? What if we had time to slow down and greet one another as we passed? What if we had time to actually pause and look up at one another? What if we had time to breathe?

I know. Fantasy. Pipe dreams. The stuff of the lives of the rich and famous, but not the employed and nameless. Our lot is destined to be much different. We will work and work and work, until we can’t or it kills us. But what if it didn’t have to be this way? What if we had space, space to breathe?

A fellow traveler,

Blake

What’s my next step?

We encourage you to consider engaging in the following as a way of handing off faith in your family.

Practice the Sabbath as a family: Sabbath is the space that God instructed us to build in so that we could experience a gap between our limits and our loads. Sabbath is a time in which we slow down and rest, not as an option but as a regular way of being, a rhythm of living. This week, consider taking a Sabbath day as a family. As a family, do whatever relaxes and energizes you—with one condition. Seek to cease from all errands and tasks which are unnecessary. At the end of this day, chat as a family about what this experience was like and how you might make this a regular part of your family’s rhythm.

We encourage you to consider engaging in the following as a way of deepening your own faith.

Take a break: God did not design us to work, and work, and work. God designed us to live out a rhythm in which we work, rest, and then repeat. God built this rhythm of work and rest into the cycle of each day and into the rhythm of each week. This week consider honoring this intended rhythm of being by taking a break. If you are feeling bold, take an entire day (Sabbath) and do no regular work, not even a trip to the grocery store! Do whatever relaxes and energizes you. If you are feeling less courageous, honor the intended daily rhythm of being by setting a cut-off time for all work. You might consider a time like 7:30 p.m. to be done with all forms of work, including housework. After this time, seek to connect with family and friends and to rest. In addition, go to bed at a reasonable hour and seek to obtain at least 7 hours of sleep. Attempt this rhythm for a week and then chat with God about how you are feeling.