Finding Peace in a Busy Fall

Dear Friends through Park, 

Many families find schedules accelerating in the fall. School resumes, weather cools, responsibilities multiply, and all the activities can leave us feeling “out of gas”. Commitments become burdens rather than enriching opportunities. 

I recently ran across an article from a generation ago describing the conversation of two friends who discovered they had traveled the same route through California on a family vacation. One person asked, “What did you think of the redwood trees?” The other replied, “What redwood trees?” A map was unfolded, and to the dismay of the latter traveler, it was clear that they had indeed passed through the great Redwood Forest. After a moment of thought he lamented, “That must have been the day we made 800 miles.” 

When we try to make 800 miles in our own daily schedules, we can easily lose sight of the redwood trees as well. We rush through one appointment to get to the next and fail to appreciate the sights, sounds, smells, and people we encounter along the way. 

In his book, The Tempo of Modern Life, the late James Truslow Adams recalls the story of a foreign explorer on an urgent march through the Amazon jungle. Their party made swift progress for about two days and the next morning the explorer found indigenous pack bearers sitting solemnly and making no preparations for further travel. When asked about the delay, a native guide explained that they were waiting; they would not move until their souls caught up with their bodies. 

If within your household communication is limited, tempers are short, laughter is infrequent, perhaps your soul hasn’t kept pace with your body. Jesus said, “Peace I leave with you…”, but soul and body need to be whole to experience such “shalom”. Our lives may be busy, but claiming the place we are in the moment, pausing to look for the glory around us, and seeing God in the faces of those we meet, are spiritual disciplines that enable us to be strengthened rather than weakened by the routines of life. 

This autumn let’s “fall back” on our faith, 

Pastor Dan