Friday, July 24, 2020

The Hope of Something New

 
Now I am revealing new things to you
Things hidden and unknown to you
Created just now, this very moment.
Of these things you have heard nothing until now.
So that you cannot say, Oh yes, I knew this.
Isaiah 48:6-7 (Jerusalem Bible)






Our vacation evolved into a stay-cation. I am usually conflicted when we choose to stay home instead of going away and even more so considering we have been home a lot during the pandemic. As we approach our first day, I prefer to think of it as a retreat. Not the kind of retreat one takes with a group – filled to the brim with teaching sessions but a restorative and restful retreat.
I do need a retreat. I read this wonderful phrase in Lisa-Jo Baker’s newsletter, “You eat for the hunger that lies ahead.” I’ve no idea what’s ahead but the surprises of this year have been things for which none of us were prepared. One would think with all the social distancing we would all be filled up to pour out. Whether or not you have been working from home, working away from home, or caring for your family and household during the pandemic, we’ve all been navigating our jobs differently. I don’t know how you deal with your world being upended but I need to pause, listen and begin to recognize this isn’t just one big disappointing season, though sometimes it feels like it.

Sarah Clarkson writes, But once lockdown struck, once we found ourselves confined to the spaces of home, and unkempt garden, we began the work of ordering and creating. Thomas rebuilt the beds stone by stone. We fought those stubborn weeds. We put fresh soil in and whenever we found a plant for sale in any store we were allowed to visit, we plopped it straight into the ground. Day by day, we searched for new leaves and tiny shoots and buds. Day by day, we fought back the weeds. Day by day we watched until the first rose bloomed like a crimson sunrise and we felt as if a blow had been struck for joy in the world. To garden became our strange way of resisting... lethargy and disorder, loneliness and darkness.”

I plan to fight back the weeds of my thinking, my one way of looking at things, and make room for something new in the everyday space of our lives. If I believe God’s Word, and I do, He is doing a new thing. I want to press the pause button and pay attention, to luxuriate in His rest and “eat for the hunger that lies ahead”. God is doing a new thing and His grace will be available for us moment by moment carrying us through today and into the days ahead. This is true whether or not I retreat but to retreat is to reorient myself to the truth of Him and turn from the words of the world – words that undermine hope and peace. To retreat is to cultivate the soil of my soul so new hope will sprout strong.

As we enter into our nine day retreat at home I start to feel a bit claustrophobic. I have this fear it will be a spin off of “Honey I Shrunk the Kids” only now it’s “Honey I Shrunk the House”. I feel like a claustrophobic giant in our shrunken pandemic life but I desire to look at this from another perspective. It’s as if our home and yard are shrinking around me, choking out my desire for wide open spaces and being with family I haven’t seen in a long time. But just maybe God is doing a new thing. I believe He is even if I can’t identify it; I can rest in Him and His Word.

To push back the limitations of our retreat I chose to move into this week in a posture of simplicity. I do not plan to wrestle time and squeeze all I can out of it so I’ve made space to receive. The balance will be precarious since we are home. I have gathered art supplies for art journaling, a new author to read, and a few lovely places to quench my need of nature. Georgia O’Keefe, a pioneer of modern art, had grown tired of replicating what she saw in nature. Though she painted buildings and skulls, she is well known for her enlarged flowers. Each flower feels as if it is being seen through a magnifying glass.

I desire to allow God to enlarge my view of our home, yard and nearby spaces as retreat worthy. I want to tend to the details around me, not as a home project but as play, celebration and rest. I plan to pay attention and listen for the new thing He is revealing. I long to think on these things – whatever is true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent or praiseworthy. The intention of this personal retreat is to rest, renew, pay attention and recognize the work of God around me. He is revealing a new thing and I don’t want to miss it.