First United Methodist Church - Fort Collins, CO

The most important question about getting away is the purpose for it. If we’ve gotta get away what will we want to do while we’re away? Is the getting away escape? Is there some reason why we should want to get away? Is there something that must happen to us while we are away?

I think there are two things that should happen to us while we are away.

1. We can rediscover a part of ourselves that has been lost. We can become “congruent” with ourselves. We can find a bit of consistency we have lost in the frenzy of life with the pressures and pulls in so many directions. We can rediscover who we are even as we live in a world in which we are told by others who we should be.
2. We can realign with that which is greater than ourselves. Often we can’t see the forest for the trees and we forget that there are broad dimensions of our living that impact other aspects of life. Our goal in life is to line up with the sense of the eternal and to live in accordance with that. Our aim in getting away is to find God and to live a life that lines up with what we understand God to be.

Two things for us to do while we are getting away from it all: CONGRUENCE AND ALIGNMENT

Finally, it may be we can’t get away this summer or it could be that our getting away this summer will be so rushed and pressured that it won’t really be getting away. That may be true and, if so, what are we to do? I think we have a chance when we’ve gotta get away to do something every week at church. Worship should provide both alignment and congruence. That’s why we come to church on Sunday mornings in the summer, in the fall, in the winter, and in the spring.

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If you have thoughts, please leave a comment with this post. For personal thoughts write me at charlesschuster@fcfumc.net. I look forward to hearing from you.

- Charles

 

Where and how do you get away from it all?

In the 6th Chapter of the Gospel of Mark we find that passage where Jesus is speaking in his home church and the people, instead of listening to what he said and learning from it, remark about his parents. They are more concerned to name is family tree than they are to hear what he said.

In the next section of Mark he sends out the disciples and tells them to go door to door. He suggests there are some places where they will not be heard. What he advises them to do is shake the dust off their shoes and move on.

Every now and then we’ve got to get away. It’s important to know when it’s time to get away. Peter Moore wrote an article in a magazine on “men’s health” but I am sure this is not exclusive to men. He said that research has shown that men are more likely to have heart attacks if they don’t take time away from their work. He writes that, it has been shown; men who do not take summer vacations have a higher risk of having fatal heart attacks than men who take their summer vacations.

You and I have got to get away from time to time.

1. How do we know when it’s time to get away?
2. What are the signs?
3. Where do we go to get away?
4. Are you going away this summer?
5. Have you been away? Did it help?

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If you have thoughts, please leave a comment with this post. For personal thoughts write me at charlesschuster@fcfumc.net. I look forward to hearing from you.

- Charles

There is much in life that will stress us out. The pressures on all of us are overwhelming, and the summer is a time to find time to recollect our thoughts and our spirits. It is a time to find ourselves again.

Jesus, from time to time, needed to “get away from it all”. He found a place he could go and there were times in his life when it was important to go there.

We can get away by simply spending time in reflection; a spiritual retreat. We can get away from it all going to a place we’ve never been, and we can get away from it all as we are surrounded by friends and loved ones.

Bill Henson writes about the time in his ministry he was asked to give a speech in South Carolina. It had been a particularly stressful time for him in his church in Houston. There had been a murder of a staff member, a fine in the church, and a decision about whether to stay at the present location or move. He remembers how he had never been as tired as he was when he finished his speech that night. The pastor of the church asked him to stay after the presentation and answer questions. He remember leaning against a wall and wondering if he could make it through the next hour while people came up to him asking him questions and pointing out the error of his thinking. At the end of the line was a familiar face. It was his daughter. She had barrowed a car and driven from school to visit with her dad. The two of them went to a local all-night restaurant and visited until the early hours of the morning. Finally, she got back in her car and drove back to school. Bill noticed something. He was no longer weary. His conversation with his daughter had energized him. Being with the people we love will lift our spirits and will revive us.

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If you have thoughts, please leave a comment with this post. For personal thoughts write me at charlesschuster@fcfumc.net. I look forward to hearing from you.

- Charles