The month of June seems to bring the human concept of milestones into acute focus. There are ceremonies and parties acknowledging and celebrating graduates moving from one grade level to the next with an extra portion of “good luck’s” and “you’ll do greats” for those who are embarking on the journey to college, internships and apprenticeships, and the open job market. Summer prompts many of us to take vacations or to explore our home cities a little more closely. There are summer weddings, family and class reunions, backyard BBQs, and outdoor theater or hiking excursions.
Although the weather of course has something to do with our sudden desire to get out and about, I hypothesize that we are also somewhat conditioned to see the summer in this way. The most obvious reason is that the school year here in the United States typically takes a summer break allowing school age folks a time of rest from their studies. In this empty space, the vacuum we call summer, there is an opportunity to rest and renew. And it is at that precise moment when books are put aside and the days are freed from the constant Pavlov dogs’-like bell ringing movements of the school day, that we begin to fill our days with other “to-do’s”.
A vacuum by itself does not exert force, it is simply empty. However, we often press or force things into the vacuum, in this case the empty summer. I realize that this scenario is not applicable to everyone and yet I do believe that the general idea here is familiar to most of us. As we enter this particular summer, let us cease a bit from our doing, and rest in God’s Sabbath time. Let us listen to what the Holy Spirit has to tell us in this time of separation; church from pastor. Let us seek to adhere to God’s fourth commandment to observe the Sabbath and keep it holy. As we journey the time together, throughout these three months of Pastor Dave’s sabbatical, I encourage you to pray intensely, listen intently, and act intentionally.
What message of hope, word for the day, or vision for the future is God speaking to you? Peace and blessings,
Pastor MP
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