Today was another travel day. Los Angeles traffic is horrendous. Tomorrow, we will go to Channel Islands National Park and I am truly excited! For now, though, I have some reoccurring thoughts. First, last night was the second night that I had dreamed that I was preaching. What is that about? There was another dream of leading a wedding. God please take these dreams away. I am on Sabbatical.
I do love the church. In fact, I miss the church. Yes, it’s true. The Sunday before we left for California, we worshiped at Plainfield UMC. Before going, I shared with Amber, “I need Church. I need worship.” I love the people of God. I love worship and love worshipping with others. The week before we worshipped online through Avon UMC. It was great to see our community of faith on the screen, but I missed the people. When church and the people of faith are taken away, something is truly missing. The life of faith is a communal life with God and each other.
The second thought that has reoccurred over and over again. “Shouldn’t a Sabbatical feel holier than this?” I have been on Sabbatical for about a month now. Should it all feel like one great spiritual high? The two weeks previous to California, I was mostly doing yard/house work as I continued to be a husband/dad. These were the day to day activities. We might call them mundane. Yes, God is in the spiritual high, but it’s easy to find God there. Maybe the real trick of a rich spiritual life is to find God in the mundane, day to day life. Being a dad, husband, family man, friend; these are all holy activities. Maybe the Quakers understand this the best that God is in the day to day activities of life. For them, every meal is “communion” with God.
God, I am loving these National Parks, but my life does not consist of just going to one beautiful location after another. Help me to find you in the day to day because these are also holy days and maybe they are the holiest of days.
By the way, when we arrived at our Hampton Inn in Oxnard, California, Josh and I were walking around the hotel and heard this strange barking. Thus, we continued to walk, to investigate the source of the sound. Just behind our hotel were roughly seven sea lions lounging in the sun on a dock. Welcome to the Pacific coast!!!
