Good morning…
“What is Labor Day?” my husband asked some of his high school students last week.
“A day off to honor the military,” one girl replied.
“No,” said another, “I think it’s about mothers who have given birth naturally.”
Still another said, “I think it has something to do with unions.”
My personal answer is even weirder than these. I would say, “Labor Day is about fire.” Let me explain.
A few weeks back, a friend introduced me to a poem called “Fire” by Judy Brown. I have pondered this wisdom ever since. I loved it so much I even bought Judy’s book entitled The Sea Accepts All Rivers & Other Poems.
Do you share the same deep yearning as me, Judy, and the psalmist? I want some wide open space in my life! (Psalm 38:21, MSG).
May this holiday off feel like…
an opening,
breathing room,
gracious space in between.
LORD, please burn away our worldly obsession with too many good things, too many logs packed in too tight. As we are guided forward into fall, help us to lay down only the logs that are “ours” to choose while consciously building in plenty of breathing space.
Might the psalmist put words to our own daily request of God? Be a guest room where I can retreat; you said your door was always open! (Psalm 71:3a, MSG). Retreat into intimate communion. Return to authentic community. The natural rhythm of retreat and return feels a lot like space and logs.
Morning by morning, do we trust the eternal flame to knows just how it wants to burn? If we take time to craft a healthy foundation for our fall schedule, we will just need to lay a log lightly from time to time.
…Sue…
