The Responsible way to be Irresponsible

This week’s journey of discovery is about Yosemite National Park, only two hours from my home I decided to leave all my responsibilities and just be. I will bet if you close your eyes, you can imagine the last forest you were in, the glorious smells like the pine trees and the feeling of the gentle breeze across your cheek.  Abandoning your responsibilities like that pile of laundry, that stack of bills and the “To Do” list, feels like you’re getting away with something. Additionally, when there is no internet connection, so much the better, no pinging or ringing and, hey, its not your fault you did not answer your phone, its the cell phone company’s fault. When you are finally free of those pesky responsibilities and deep into the forest, you are left with one thing, that glorious gift called your sense of wonder.  G.K Chesterton, a man of colossal genius said a lot of brilliant things, but this is what he said about Wonder.

“The world will never starve for want of wonders, but only for want of wonder.”

If you read it again and think hard about the last time you were filled with wonder, you will realize it’s been a while. However, going to a great park you cannot help but be filled with it. Sitting quietly and for lengthy periods of time you will notice that the transformative power of retreating from the world and slowly entering HIS world, gives you peace and new perspective.

Mark 1:35 Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed.

It takes a while to settle your heart, to fight that urge, to keep going, because you are just constantly going. The computer was supposed to make our lives easier, for some things that is so, but for the individual, I question if that is truly so. I recently was creating a business card for an event with the website address on it and was told that listing a website is old-fashioned and too slow! Now people use QR codes, they just snap a picture of these black squiggly lines and are taken to a place instantly where their credit card number will be immediately processed!  It seems someone decided that is what humanity would like without asking us if we would like it or not. Life has just become too fast, and a regular slowing down is good and not irresponsible. In fact, I think it’s interesting that the older we get the slower our bodies get, I think its Gods way of slapping us up- side the head and saying “hey, stop, look at what I made for you, come sit and be with me!”

So this past week, I did the responsible thing and took Jesus’s advice and withdrew to a place to commune with God, to sit with him and his creation, so that I could return to the needs of others a whole person, refreshed and to be a light to a starving and upset society.