Rest

Rest

Rest is not idleness, and to lie sometimes on the grass under trees on a summer's day, listening to the murmur of the water, or watching the clouds float across the sky, is by no means a waste of time.

Sir J. Lubbock

Quoted at herondance.org

By inward/outward



Time to retreat

Vacation has been a long time coming this year. No time away in the summer--just too much going on and too much uncertainty caught me in several traps of confusion about my schedule.

Ever been there?

But, I'm holding out hope for November.

My good friend, James Walters has offered up his cabin in Wells River, Vermont. James teaches at Boston University. Brilliant scholar working in the early Christian era to understand the social dynamics of the period.

James is also a skilled urban practitioner on several levels. While at Heartbeat, James helped create the Personal and Community Empowerment (PACE) materials that we are using to train leaders and organize community groups in several inner-city neighborhoods here in Dallas.

I love James. Wish I could find more ways to spend time with him.

The thought of his cabin leads me to share what's below from the latest Heron Dance email message I received on Friday.

Enjoy!

_____________________________

THE LAKE ISLE OF INNISFREE

I will arise and go now, and go to Innisfree

And a small cabin build there, of clay and wattles made

Nine bean rows will I have there, a hive for the honeybee

And live alone in the bee-loud glade.

And I shall have some peace there, for peace

Comes dropping slow.

Dropping from the veils of the morning to where the cricket sings;

There midnight’s all a glimmer, and noon a purple glow,

And evening full of the Linnet’s wings.
I will arise and go now, for always night and day

I hear lake water lapping with low sounds by shore;

While I stand on the roadway, or on the pavements grey,

I hear it in the deep hear’s core.

—W.B. Yeats, 1890

Vacations past. . .

Speaking of vacations, renewal and the benefits, luxuries and privileges of the middle class. . .

For years, when our girls were young, we spent at least a week or two each summer in and around the location pictured here.

Great memories!

Great scenery.

Pretty good trout fishing across the years.

Wonderfully relaxing.

Can anyone tell me where these photos were taken?

By the way, the really old shot was taken long before my birth!

Shane Claiborne in Dallas

We've talked a bit about the thought and work of Shane Claiborne here in the past.

Claiborne's cage-rattling book, Irresistible Revolution: Living as an Ordinary Radical, has set off lots of discussion in the Evangelical world of Christianity.

I love what Alden Enns, publisher of Geez magazine and former managing editor of Adbusters, says about the book:

"Shane Claiborne is a living experiment--evangelical zeal mixed with grassroots activism; passion for Jesus mixed with prison time for feeding the poor. This is a rant for love, aimed at cowards seeking courage."

Now Claiborne goes Mainline.

If you live in Dallas and if you'd like to hear him in person, then plan on being at the University Park United Methodist Church (4024 Caruth at Preston Road) on Monday, April 9 at 7:00 p.m.!

Not surprisingly, Shane's presentation for the evening sports a provocative title: "Jesus Wrecked My Life."

Should be quite the evening. . . maybe I'll see you there.

[Check out Claiborne's blog at: http://www.thesimpleway.org/shane/.]

Day Dreams. . .Great Memories

If I don't manage to get to a river at least once every 12 to 15 months, I feel as if I am cheating myself out of the kind of renewal and pure joy that can fuel my soul for an entire year of hard work in the city.

When I was a college student living in central Arkansas, I spent lots of time wading the Little Red River fishing for Rainbow Trout.

I remember almost always packing my skillet for a meal on the riverbank.

Nothing tastes better than fresh trout cooked up over a camp fire out in the woods after a few hours of "hard work" fishing up and down a section of fast-flowing water. I can still taste those meals!

It was always great being with a buddy or family fishing that special stretch of stream. We had lots of fun and plenty of laughs!

But, I also found it very satisfying being there alone in the beauty. The leaves, the water, the breeze and the challenge of the pesky Rainbows--it all added up to great times that I'll never forget. Fall days on the river were particularly satisfying.

I expect those memories, as much as anything else, continue to drive me toward rivers in other parts of the country.

There's nothing like fly fishing for trout in a swift river.

When you day dream, what fills your mind and heart?