The Holy Leisure of a Monastic Householder

I am a Benedictine at heart, I believe in moderation and balance, equal parts of prayer, work and leisure.   This includes eating, working out, talking, hanging out, spending time with the Lord and loved ones.  Christ is a loved one, loved ones should be Christ.

The simple art of Being is part of the holy leisure of the monastic.  Being can also be part of the holy leisure of the householder.  It can be the part of our day that refreshes us, reminds us of the awesomeness of God.

For some this Holy Leisure could be water ski-ing, the beauty of the water at your feet, the thunder of the wind in your ears, the spray in your face;

For others it could be snow ski-ing, the quiet and peace as white landscape flashes past;

I don’t know why those two activities sprung to mind as I wrote this, I can only think that they both involve high speeds and are probably analogies of my life as I hurtle through the homeschooling day multi-tasking like a whirling dervish, they are definitely not the first form of leisure I would choose.

I need to be quiet.

The closest I can come to doing something while I’m seeking leisure is bike riding through a golf course community where my in-laws live in East Texas.  It has to be first thing in the morning before the heat becomes oppressive or the inhabitants have had their first cup of coffee and I am hailed from driveways,

“Good morning!”

It also has to be before the walkers are briskly powering their way across the bridges which traverse the lakes thus disturbing the cotton-tails and ducks, birds and fish which I have stopped to watch in the dawn light.

Getting lost in God’s world in this way is holy leisure for me, it is truly refreshing and I find that after a long ride I return home ready for the day.

I need the charge it gives me to be able to strap on my metaphorical skis and go after the water or snow slopes of my busy day.

 

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