Nine Times Jesus Retreated — No Days Off Since January

First of all, I know that I am not the “fixer.” I’d love to be, but I am not. We are confronted with so many deeply hurtful things. We see chaos and crisis; we see pain and suffering; we see neglect and misery; if it’s bad, evil, heartbreaking, we see it, we touch it, we smell it, we lose sleep over it. We however cannot fix it.

We can be there in the moment, we can listen, we can care, we can love. We can give what we have, sometimes all that we have. We can give our labor, we can give our goods, we can give our prayers, we can give our time, even time that we have reserved for ourselves, our families, our self-care. I wonder how Jesus felt with all those tugging on him, taking a piece of him, wanting, needing, requiring more, more, more.

Yesterday was a really frustrating day. I tell you about the good ones, fair play is that you hear about the bad ones. I won’t do that to you!

My go-to is “What would Jesus do?” 9 times Jesus retreated to be alone with God. My body, mind and soul need to retreat. I need some serious time alone with the Father and myself. I realized that I have not had a single day nor most nights off since January. Not a single day, seven days (and nights) a week for months. I am more than physically tired, and I am much more spiritually tired. I need to go sit in the chapel before the world wakes and hear the first bird begin to sing, to smell the sweet early morning breezes as they blow through the open windows, to have the cool morning mist bathe me in softness. I need to walk through my garden and count the bees and ask them how they are doing.

Got to go… the phone is ringing. Quiet time is over… have a slow and quiet day.

Love, Pam