Escaping the Crowds

When I think of summer, the first image that comes to mind is the cover of The Days Are Just Packed -- a collection of Calvin & Hobbes comic strips. In the golden glow of late afternoon, the boy and his tiger lounge in a tree. Hobbes stretches out lazily along the branch, and Calvin leans against him, holding a water balloon. With wide smiles and closed eyes, they've spent the whole day up in that tree, just hanging out and hoping that someone would walk underneath them.

I don't know how you all spent your summers. I know I didn't spend a single day in a tree. I was working pretty hard at Camp Bishopswood. But I did begin almost every day sitting quietly by the shore of the lake, watching the sun rise on a glorious Maine morning, the light glittering like jewels on the surface and gliding like waves of fire along the bottom.

For many of you, and myself certainly included, summer already feels like a distant memory. The days are getting shorter, and we are getting busier. If the days of summer were packed, these days are bursting at their seams and spilling over into the nighttime. One of my enduring memories of high school is waking up in the middle of the night, the light still on and my face resting on a glossy pillow of textbook pages. Perhaps you've been there.

My Facebook feed recently provided me with a gem of wisdom, a Zen saying that a friend had posted. It read, "You should sit in meditation for twenty minutes a day, unless you're too busy; then you should sit for an hour." For me, it was an important reminder that the busier I am, the more important it is that I make time to be still, to pray, to retreat from the busyness of the world. In the Gospels, Jesus is forever escaping crowds and taking breaks from his important work (sure puts my day-to-day in perspective) to reconnect with God.

In the summer, your place of retreat and connection to God might have been up a tree or beside a lake. In the fall, I hope that many of you will find that special place at St. Stephen's.