{"id":1462,"date":"2011-07-15T08:43:02","date_gmt":"2011-07-15T15:43:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.richarddahlstrom.com\/?p=1462"},"modified":"2011-07-15T08:43:02","modified_gmt":"2011-07-15T15:43:02","slug":"enough-the-power-of-rest-rhythm-and-no","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/richarddahlstrom\/2011\/07\/15\/enough-the-power-of-rest-rhythm-and-no\/","title":{"rendered":"Enough: the power of rest, rhythm, and “no”"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

My recent vacation was a gift in every way. \u00a0Seeing our oldest daughter <\/a>in her world was a gift. \u00a0Being in the places I travel for work, without working (and without snow), was a gift. \u00a0Receiving the vacation as a gift from the church I lead was deeply encouraging. \u00a0Enjoying fellowship with close friends who live in Europe was a gift. \u00a0And, significantly, there was the gift of a lesson learned\u2026. <\/strong><\/p>\n

We live in a world of objectives where success is defined, often, by \u201chow much\u201d: \u00a0How much work can you get done on your shift? \u00a0How many pages did you write today? \u00a0How many sales contacts did you make? How many things did you check off your bucket list this year? I set my week up by naming the roles of my life (teacher\/writer \u2013 leader\/visionary \u2013 shepherd \u2013 family \u2013 personal well being) and filling each of those boxes with goals that will move me forward in my life calling. \u00a0That way, it\u2019s rare for me to find myself sitting around saying, \u201cwhat should I do today?\u201d<\/em> I just look at the list, and BOOM! \u00a0I\u2019m off to do something.<\/p>\n

I took this mindset into my vacation. \u00a0Bike through vineyards in France. \u00a0Hike from hut to hut to hut in the Alps. \u00a0Climb in the Dachstein on a Klettersteig<\/a>. \u00a0Paraglide on the last day with my friend. \u00a0There \u2013 that ought to maximize my time in Europe!<\/p>\n

Well, things didn\u2019t exactly work out that way. \u00a0Instead of biking through vineyards in France, how about cornfields in Germany? \u00a0Klettersteig day? \u00a0Rainning. \u00a0Not possible. \u00a0We spent the rainy day sleeping in, wandering shops, visiting friends, reading, and taking our daughter out for supper. \u00a0Paragliding? \u00a0Again, it was raining and too cold, so we enjoyed a day hike to a hut, where we drank cocoa and bonded with mountain sheep.<\/p>\n

In summary, the trip was less than I\u2019d planned, but perfect in every way<\/em>. \u00a0God the weather maker imposed a marvelous rhythm on our time, and it taught me something priceless: \u00a0I don\u2019t need to do everything.<\/strong> I don\u2019t need to \u201cmaximize\u201d my life by driving myself to accumulate: experiences, possessions, influence. \u00a0In looking back, not only at vacation, but at the sometimes \u201ctype A\u201d way I approach life, I began to see some important truths:<\/p>\n

1. My drive is too often born from fear and insecurity rather than obedience<\/strong> \u2013 I\u2019m afraid of missing something, afraid that if I don\u2019t do, I won\u2019t be significant. \u00a0Somehow this trip reminded me that I won\u2019t do everything, and that I\u2019m significant not because I do, but because God loves me.<\/p>\n

Over breakfast one morning a friend was saying, \u201cDid you know there\u2019s a 33 day \u2018hut to hut\u2019 trip from Lucerne in Switzerland to Venice, straight through the Alps?\u201d<\/p>\n

Of course my first thought was, \u201cWhen do we go?\u201d, but right on the heels of that, my mind reminded me, \u201cbut you want to hike the Pacific Crest trail from Canada to Mexico, and climb all the Pacific Volcanoes, and\u2026\u201d \u00a0On the train later that morning, I realized how unhappy I make myself when I set random lofty goals, goals I\u2019ll never reach, goals that, when I don\u2019t reach them, will make me feel lazy. \u00a0I learned, that day, to stop this nonsense. \u00a0I\u2019m finite. \u00a0I don\u2019t need to climb every volcano, let alone hike to Venice. \u00a0Like Martha<\/a>, I\u2019ve grown \u201cconcerned about many things\u201d: \u00a0church life, teaching at Bible schools, investing time in developing countries with pastors, writing, becoming best friends with all my neighbors, hiking from Canada to Mexico, and now from Switzerland to Italy. And then I said to my insecure, ambitious self: \u00a0\u201cSTOP! \u00a0YOU ARE KILLING ME!\u201d <\/em> \u2013 And I did. \u00a0I moved from the many things of Martha back to where rest can be found, which is learning again to become occupied with the \u201cone thing\u201d of Mary.<\/p>\n

2. Life is infinite.<\/strong> One of things that\u2019s liberating is the reminder that we don\u2019t need to miss out on anything. \u00a0My moment of perfection in Alps (that\u2019s the picture above) was sort of like a movie trailer; a reminder that\u2019s there more, and even better, yet to come. \u00a0Life\u2019s not finite basket of heartbeats that we\u2019re going to use up and then we decompose. \u00a0Life\u2019s eternal and \u201cthe greatest hits\u201d will be there later. \u00a0I can, perhaps hike to Venice in eternity, and if not, there\u2019ll be something so much better than I won\u2019t even miss it.<\/p>\n

3. Saying no is liberating.<\/strong> When we woke to rain on that planned day of climbing, I couldn\u2019t understand why I was so relieved. \u00a0This was, of all things, the \u201chighest\u201d (pun intended) on my list. \u00a0What I learned that day is that my lists are often random rather than thoughtful, lustful rather than purposeful. \u00a0My lists are sometimes borne of my desire to be infinite, rather than my humble \u201cyes\u201d that comes in response to God\u2019s promptings. \u00a0I needed, not a challenging climb up a rocky ridge after 3 days of hiking\/scrambling\/climbing in the Alps; I needed a shower, and a book, and the maturity to say \u201cenough\u201d.<\/p>\n

And that, as much as anything, was a gift (tariff free) that I\u2019ve brought home from vacation.<\/p>\n

O Lord of all rhythms; <\/em><\/p>\n

Thanks you for day and night, winter and summer, sleep and activity, work and rest. \u00a0Teach us to listen for your voice, that we might learn the rhythms of grace, and so display your beauty, hope, creativity, and rest, in the precious gift of the days you\u2019ve given us. \u00a0Amen <\/em><\/p>\n

Here are some highlights<\/a>, if you have 10 minutes.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

My recent vacation was a gift in every way. \u00a0Seeing our oldest daughter in her world was a gift. \u00a0Being in the places I travel for work, without working (and without snow), was a gift. \u00a0Receiving the vacation as a gift from the church I lead was deeply encouraging. \u00a0Enjoying fellowship with close friends who […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6,8,9],"tags":[25,43,44],"class_list":["post-1462","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-creation","category-inhaling","category-intimacy","tag-creation-2","tag-rest","tag-sabbath"],"yoast_head":"\nEnough: the power of rest, rhythm, and "no"<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"My recent vacation was a gift in every way. \u00a0Seeing our oldest daughter in her world was a gift. \u00a0Being in the places I travel for work, 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