Several years ago I was at a veterinary conference in Las Vegas. It was a good meeting, lots of new ideas and reaffirmation of some older ones as well. But I was getting a little bored and needed to find something different to do. I am not a Vegas fan. Don’t do any of the typical things like casinos or shows. My big thing is riding motorcycles. As many of you regular readers of ACM are painfully aware of, through my numerous referral to this addiction in past reflections.
So, as I was letting my mind wander during lectures I realized that Death Valley was only a few hours from Vegas. And there are places in Vegas that rent motorcycles. Yes, I thought, it is DEATH Valley but, why not? No pain, no gain. What sealed the deal was the Psalm on that day…the 23rd Psalm. And in particular one line:
Even though I walk in the dark valley (some versions read, “Shadow of the Valley of Death”)
I fear no evil; for you are at my side
With your rod and your staff
that give me courage.
So I took the bull by the horns, rented the bike, crossed over Potosi Mountain and then descended into the desert. If you have never been to Death Valley I can tell you it is an other-worldly place. It is truly like exploring the surface of the moon. The ride turned out to be a memorable trip and led to a few more trips to the area. Including this fall.
In early November a group of us went west for an off road ride through the Mojave Desert, Death Valley then into the Sierra Mountains. By the last day, everyone but me and one other rider had left due to a variety of reasons. One of those being that it was a tough ride. Many challenges confronted us. Sand, rock, heat, elevation changes and mechanical issues. But two of us had survived until the last day. James and I were left.
That persistence paid off because it allowed James and I to have some great conversations, through our Bluetooth headsets, about a variety of topics. Eventually the conversation turned to God and faith. The experience I had in riding this area a few years earlier allowed me to relax, even though the trail was rough, because I had “been there…done that”. And my mind was able to focus on James and talking about things that really mattered. After the trip, and James returned home to Pennsylvania, he contacted me and wanted to let me know that something changed in him on this trip. He felt God.
At first I had the attitude that I had to bombard him with all things Christian because I had to lead him to Jesus. Lots of pressure. But then I realized. I didn’t have to take him to Christ. CHRIST had to take him to Christ. I just had to point the way. And PRAY. I needed to relax. Be grateful for the opportunity to express my faith to someone who was open to hearing it. But then I had to relax. Let it go and turn it over to the Father.
And this is what Jesus was telling the disciples when they returned from spreading the Good News to the regions around Galilee. There was much work to be done going forward but there also needs to be time to sit back, relax, and re-energize. Life is all about balance. Our faith, our families, our friends. Yes, read scripture daily. Yes, pray unceasingly. Yes, worship. Reconcile. Evangelize. But even God rested on the last day. Jesus went off to deserted places regularly. To rest and to reconnect quietly with His Father. These periods of down time allowed Him to be more aware when opportunities to share and serve came His way.
The first reading from Hebrews comes from the 13th chapter. In this chapter the author of Hebrews is encouraging the early Jewish Christians. They were becoming disenchanted. Tired waiting for the second coming. Working towards this goal. They did not know the big picture that this journey of faith was a marathon, not a sprint. They were sliding back to their Jewish roots and practices and becoming indifferent to Christianity.
They needed, we all need, to balance working for Christ by educating ourselves so that we can teach others of this wonderful life, with the need to rest, reflect and trust. For without this balance we will likely wind up like the seed that fell amongst the thorns. Choked out by life’s challenges and worries. Farmers often will rotate their fields, always leaving some open and not planted. This allows that soil to become re-enriched and prepared to support future growth. Let us rest and re-enrich and develop into the good soil, allowing the seed, the word of God, to grow 100 fold in us.
