Sustaining Your Life: Restored by Beauty
If any of you follow us on Instagram or Facebook, you may have seen some of the beauty we shared from our recent trip to Germany. Words like staggering, overwhelming, and amazing don’t do justice to the beauty of southern Germany.
We were there to facilitate some training and retreat time for Navy Chaplains and their RPs. But we had a few days prior to that to simply enjoy the area. And the timing could not have been more perfect.
We had just come through an intense season of writing books and preparing for speaking. And, somehow, I found myself creatively exhausted.
At first, I described my tiredness as being soul tired. However, after thinking about it a little more, I realized my soul was energized and hopeful. But I could not escape the fact that something inside of me was quite empty. The place from which I draw words to write or insights to speak was running dry.
Not surprisingly, Alan found himself in a similar place. We had both been in output mode for quite a while. As we were talking one day, we realized we were sharing a similar tiredness. The first thing we did was look at our replenishing and refilling spaces in our calendar. They were sparse. And we had let the idea of true Sabbath fall to the wayside.
Yes, we had been traveling throughout the last few months, but none of it was a true vacation. The kind where you don’t check email and you get lost in timelessness. We were in beautiful locations…working. Our monthly solitude days were evidently not enough to keep us from the level of tiredness we had reached. Oh, the ironies of tending a growing organization called Unhurried Living.
So, we sat ourselves down and asked the question we ask other leaders, “What will it take to sustain the life you currently live?” Not to be confused with the unhelpful, “What are you doing to prove you are a good Christian?” But the realistic, “What will it take to truly keep you full as you continue to pour out to others?”
We made a very different plan for this next year. One that makes space for true soul-filling times, including a revived Sabbath, monthly unhurried days and bona-fide vacations.
After that we left for Germany. And, oh, those three days of being blissfully unplugged! We were surrounded by beauty and experienced quite a few firsts. A few highlights: the highest peak in Germany, with a view of four countries; a gorge, the vision and sounds of which took my breath away; a horse and carriage ride; quaint Bavarian, cobblestone streets and architecture; a castle built by King Ludwig II, with one of the most beautiful views I have ever seen in my life.
And that place inside of me, that creative place, began to fill. Beauty is a natural soul-filler. I believe that now more than ever. I was being revived in a most holy and majestic way. God speaks through his very creation as a grace and a gift. And I received it willingly.
After our wonderful time with the Chaplains, I returned home to begin my mornings in a prayer book entitled, Celtic Treasure. The first seven days unpack the glory of the creation of the world. Here is an excerpt from Day 2:
On the second day the storm kept stirring.
It was the wind of new beginnings.
God was saying, “Let there be a space for creation.”
And the wind carved out a hollow in the deep waters.
It was a cradle for life.
Above, beneath and on every side of it were the everlasting waters.
God saw that it was good.
It was a place for birth and abundance.
And there was evening and morning, creation’s second day. (From Genesis 1)
My jaw dropped as I witnessed my very life in this poetic take on Genesis 1. My creatively tired self, after having encountered such beauty was definitely in a place of “new beginnings.” God was indeed saying, “Let there be a space for creation” inside my own heart. He had carved out a hollow deep within me by the splendors of the earth (a gorge, mountains, fields, lakes, and rivers).
And God saw that it was good. I returned home in a state of re-birth and a new sense of abundance (along with a little jet lag).
Reflection
How’s your creativity these days? Are you energized or sluggish? Are you serving from a place of fullness or is your cup nearing its last drop?
If you are on the empty side, what will it take to sustain the life you live? What would be good to add? What would be good to lay down?
Give yourself permission to enjoy some beauty this week, even if it is just a few minutes. Notice what happens as you take it in. And meet God there.
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