Last week was an unusually quiet week at the rectory. He allowed me to do something that I had wanted to do all summer. Any. I’m not bragging or anything, but I can’t do anything up there with the best.
The week, like every week, started on Monday. For me, there is always something about a Monday morning. And this Monday morning was going to set the tone for the rest of the week.
It all started when the Gracious Lady of the Parochial House made one of her announcements. I live for these ads because I know they will affect my entire week.
“Our daughter and I,” he said matter-of-factly, “will be out of town all day Thursday.”
This was a shock to me, because I had not been warned. And you know what they say about being forewarned. However, I am not one to look a gift horse in the teeth. I’ll take what I can take when I can take it.
Apparently our daughter was going to take her daughter to visit friends for a whole week, and she wanted my wife to come along to keep her company. Trying to hide my joy at the whole thing, I said seriously, “Is there anything I can do for you for your trip?”
Obviously, my offer went unheeded because the next words out of my wife’s mouth were, “Now, here’s the list I made for you while I’m gone. Make sure you do everything on that list.”
I kindly accepted “The List” and looked at it casually. If she did everything on that list, she would have to be gone for a month. I smiled as she folded “The List” and put it in my shirt pocket.
This is what I love about my Beloved. She is always thinking of me. Even when she plans to be away, she takes the time to plan my day. She couldn’t ask for a better helpmate in the entire world. I promised her that I would take special care of “The List” while she was away that day. Fortunately for me, I didn’t define what I meant by “special care.” Having been married as long as I have, there are certain things that are not appropriate to divulge to your better half.
For the rest of the week she was busy making her plans and I, for one, stayed out of her way as much as I could. My motto is to never interrupt someone who is busy with her business.
Finally, the day came. Early that morning, the three of them, grandmother, mother and daughter, loaded up the car and began their journey. I stood in the driveway and waved until I couldn’t see the car anymore, and then waved for three more minutes just to make sure the job was done.
After closing the door, I took a deep breath, walked over to my chair with a nice hot cup of coffee, and started my daily activities. Oh sure, I read “The List” several times and then folded it neatly and put it back in my shirt pocket. Feeling my shirt pocket, I said to myself, “I plan to take special care of this list.”
Knowing all the things I was supposed to do as described in “The List”, I decided to do something that wasn’t on that list. After all, I was now the captain of my ship and I decided to have a pretty dangerous day.
After pouring myself another cup of hot coffee, I went out on the patio and sat enjoying the morning and watching the birds play in the backyard. This was living. No one could ever accuse me of being afraid of work because I had a whole list of work that needed to be done and I did absolutely nothing about it. It gave me a real sense of ownership. Right at this moment, I owned the moment.
I know what you are thinking right now. You’re thinking, what are you going to do when your wife comes home? That is the difference between the average person and Yours Truly. I am living in the moment. Whatever happens next has nothing to do with my enjoyment of the moment. In fact, I can get into some complicated problem; however, it is a small price to pay for enjoying my moment.
Not many people come to the place where you can enjoy your moment in the sun. Some people have grandiose ideas of life to the point that they work their whole life and never make it. Some people work very hard all their lives to get to the place where they can’t do anything.
I am miles ahead of the average citizen. I find ways to enjoy doing nothing wherever he can find them. I purposely seek out those moments and grab them when I can.
Even Jesus took time to rest. “And the [Jesus] He said to them, “Come yourselves apart to a deserted place, and rest a little, for there were many who were coming and going, and they did not even have time to eat” (Mark 6:31).
I’m reminded of another old Pennsylvania Dutch saying: “The faster I go, the further behind I fall.”
