When I was ten, eleven and twelve years old, a highlight of my summer was going to camp. I would go to a music camp for a week and then a week at scout camp. Between making friends, working on merit badges, swimming in a pool and playing the trumpet, each week was tons of fun. But there was always a section of the daily schedule at each camp that I hated. After lunch, for 45 minutes, all the campers and the camp counselors had “Rest and Quiet Time” each day. All the camp activities would cease and we had to lay in our bunks (or stay in our tents) for 45 uninterrupted minutes. This was terrible. Instead of cramming in all the fun things that were at camp, we had to be stuck doing nothing at all.
I am not sure why there was such a time in the schedule. Maybe adolescents get too hyper if you don’t build in some regular rest time. (Maybe the counselors needed a break from all the campers!) I do know that having those periods in the day had a way of making all the activities in the rest of the day seem even sweeter.
The last two weeks feel like an extended “Rest and Quiet Time” for all of us. We are hunkered down in our homes and it’s gotten to be tiresome. There are some positive qualities, like completing projects at home, connecting with other people at home or by telephone and getting plenty of exercise walking the dog. But by now we miss human interaction, hugs, handshakes and eye contact. We miss the activities that used to fill up our day.
What we are doing now reduces the spread of the virus and keeps the medical system from being overwhelmed. But there is something else that will surely come out of this experience. I am confident when we get through this, everything else about our lives will seem so much sweeter than before. The rancor and division that was so prevalent will be replaced by a sense of common purpose and the joy we discover in our relationships and connections with others.
In the meantime, I hope to connect with you in other ways that are available to us.
- Wednesday evening there will be a Lenten Study at 7:00 pm offered on Zoom.
- Thursday evening at 7 pm you can call in and join in a time of conversation and prayer with me and others from Calvary Church on the telephone.
- Sunday morning, we will offer a live worship service on Facebook and a recorded version you can find on YouTube and the church website.
- Each day this week there is a devotional from Rev. David Cooney posted on Facebook.
See the information below about how to participate in these offering.
Feel free to call me or Pastor Shannon if you have a need, wish to have a prayer, or just want to talk. Steve: 301-848-8216. Shannon: 410-937-8835.
Stay healthy, friends. Keep hope in your heart. Remember that God is with us even now.
Pastor Steve