Catching Up

Terry Hershey tells this story: “There was once an American traveler who planned a safari to Africa. He was that typical Type-A American tourist, who many of us may be and who I admittedly am when I travel. We do our research about this travel destination and we have a timetable, maps, and a clear agenda of the things we need to see and do. Some local people had even been hired to carry some of the traveler’s supplies as they trekked throughout the land—it was that level of planning.

“On the first morning, they all woke up early and traveled fast and covered a great distance. The second morning was the same—woke up early, traveled fast, and traveled far. Third morning, same thing. But on the fourth morning, the local hired help refused to move. Instead, they sat by a tree in the shade well into the morning. The American traveler became incensed and irate and said to his translator, ‘This is a waste of valuable time. Can someone tell me what’s going on here?’ The translator looked at him and calmly answered, ‘They’re waiting for their souls to catch up with their bodies.’ (Sacred Necessities: Gifts for Living with Passion, Purpose, and Grace, 68-69)

Various versions of the same story are told, but they all include people who realize they need times of rest from all the rushing about so that their souls can catch up with them. This, of course, isn’t a new idea. God did the work of creation in six days and then rested on the seventh from all the work that had been done, blessing that sabbath day and making it a holy day of rest (Genesis 2:2, 3 and Exodus 20:11).

The month of June was such a time for me. It was a time to stop and let my soul catch up with my body after this last year of the building project. Our project has gone very well. We have fantastic leaders and an excited, hard-working congregation. Still, the building project required constant attention, so I was behind in other areas and physically unhealthy.

In my time of rest, I took care of several projects on my house and cars. I waded through 2500 emails and other work left on my desk. I spent time with my parents and helped them accomplish a few tasks. I drove the kids places they needed to be. I slept in. Read. Watched movies. Relaxed. De-stressed.

I hope that you too will take the time to rest regularly and catch up. God set an example for us in this. "So God blessed the seventh day and hallowed it, because on it God rested from all the work that he had done in creation" Genesis 2:3. We need to periodically cease the busyness of work so we can be healthy and whole.

After resting, though, it’s time to engage in work again. With the building project winding down at Salem, we can turn our attention to new endeavors. We will continue work on the prescriptions from our Healthy Church Initiative consultation. The next priority is putting into place a Ministry Empowerment Team to help the people of Salem discover gifts and passions and engage in ministry and mission, serving both within the congregation and in the community. This is enormously important for us, and I am excited for us to now implement this next step in our congregation.