A Thought

“He who dwells in the secret place of the Most Hight shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.  I will say of the Lord, ‘He is my refuge and my fortress; my God, in Him I will trust.’”  Psalm 91:1-2

Do you remember the game of “chase” we played when we were children?  That simple, physically demanding, and exciting game which allowed us a “base” where we could stand and be safe from the one who was “it”?  The purpose of the game was to run from one “base” to another (usually each end of the yard or playground) without getting caught by the one who was “it” because if we got caught, we would be stuck in the madness and the chaos of that open field and unable to return to the safety of the “base” until we were able to catch someone else.

Life is a lot like this.  The sad part is that so many have distanced themselves from the Lord and His Church to the extent that they cannot find the safety and sanctuary of “base”.  For these there is no “refuge”, no “fortress”; only the madness of others running desperately from “base” to “base” without finding any real safety, no real rest.  There is only the chaos.

Let us return to our “base” at least long enough to catch our breath; it is the promise of our Lord who promises “true rest”.  Like a parent with a child, the faithful are of no real use to a world gone mad if we do not connect to our “base” often and take the necessary rest.  It is the foundational theology of the Sabbath, that remarkable Gift from Above which enables us to reconnect to our Lord and to one another in the fellowship of the Church, the Body of Christ.  It is the necessary place of “refuge” in which we can never be “caught” because we are safe, yet it is also the place from which we are sufficiently rested, strengthened, and enabled to endure the game as we must.

We cannot stay on “base” without disengaging from the game itself just as we cannot disengage from life itself, but we cannot function to our full capacity without the knowledge that “base” is always there and that real rest is to be found “under the shadow of the Almighty”.

Touch “base” regularly.  We are no good to our spouses, our children, our employers, or society in general without it.

Blessings,

Michael

P.S. – take your children’s TV, Ipods, Ipads, electronic games, computers, and cell phones away from them and teach them the game of “chase”!