John 21:1-3
After the high of any exciting event comes the low of reality. A proposal comes but then you have to choose china. He thought I’d like big red flowers like my mother’s but I wanted small, delicate blue flowers! Easter was a day full of intense spiritual experiences. The tomb was empty, women encountered Jesus, two on the road to Emmaus walked and talked with him, and then he appears in the room where they huddled in fear behind locked doors trying to figure themselves out. That was a lot for them to take in. A spiritual experience, as wonderful as it may have been, then has to be incorporated into everyday life. Jesus is alive and people have experienced that reality but now what? The followers were told to return to Galilee and wait. Ordinary days follow special days.
“’I’m going out to fish,” Simon Peter told them, and they said, ‘We’ll go with you.’” Seven disciples led by Peter decide to go fishing. That is logical as they had been fishermen. We all have activities that help us unwind and help us wait while dinner cooks, till the kids come home, till the disease runs its course, till peace is achieved. We wait for others to do their thing and for events to unfold. It is easy to fill a void with noise, with activity or with anything that preoccupies our minds from events.
So what do you like to do? Watch TV, knit, cook, shop, fish, walk, hunt, chat on the phone? None of these are bad. I suppose the question is whether the activity is helping us to detox, to unwind, to think or is it just filling time? One of the complaints about quiet times and prayers is that it is hard to stay focused because our minds wander to things that need to be done or to rehashing experiences we are dealing with. One device to help focus is a labyrinth. Tracing a finger through the maze seems to help focus the mind. Another trick is to keep a pad of paper and write down distracting thoughts so they can be dealt with later. Sometimes as we do something we love to do like fishing, our mind is freed up to ponder our situation. I don’t know what helps you but making space for the Holy Spirit to speak into your life, is always good. Blessings as you go to your favorite unwind place or activity!
On the Way to Wonder 