Downtime is uptime if it's God's time.

It's been a long time now since we marked the celebration of Easter on the church's calendar. It's an even longer time until the seasons of Advent and Christmas return. It seems that the hot, humid days of summer are the time of year we set aside not only to get a break from school or take a vacation from our job, but also as a time when we take a little "time off" from God.

The fluidity of summertime schedules means that more families are out of town, and Sunday morning attendance significantly withers. By now the Sunday school is closed and even vacation Bible school may be over. It's a bad time of year to schedule important meetings or to make any great future-shaping decisions. Everyone, it seems, is ready for a break, a change, a chance for a little well-deserved "personal time."

If we are perfectly honest with ourselves, however, we must admit that we have already segmented our lives into "God's time" vs. the "rest of our lives." So much of our days evaporates into grocery shopping, staff meetings, budget-crunching, commuter traffic snarls, refereeing sibling squabbles, "environmental science" (a.k.a. housecleaning and yard work), writing reports, keeping coworkers informed, keeping bosses informed, filing reports, preparing meals and preparing for tomorrow's onslaught, that we struggle to "find time" for God. At best, we schedule a half-hour of Bible study here, a half-hour of prayer there, and a scant hour of "worship" once a week.

The problem with this attitude is that we can't segment life into "God times" vs. "god-less times." Christians don't find time for God. We find God's time in all our time. If we are truly "in Christ," then Christ's Spirit fills us at every moment of our day. In everything we do, we must be finding God and serving God. Christians don't take "time off" from being Christians any more than our hearts can take "time off" from beating. On a sticky July day, we are as fully immersed in God's time as we are singing "Silent Night" on Christmas Eve or proclaiming "Christ is risen" on Easter morning.

In his book Breakfast at the Victory, James Carse writes, "The highest achievement of the spiritual life is within the full embrace of the ordinary. Our appetite for the big experience sudden insight, dazzling vision, heart-stopping ecstasy is what hides the true way from us." It is the extraordinary in the ordinary that can become prayer. In the Buddhist tradition there is an expression, "Chop wood; carry water," which is a way of saying that spiritual meaning can be found in the smallest, most ordinary functions of the day (As noted in R. Scott Colglazier, Finding Faith That Makes Sense [St. Louis: Chalice Press, 1996], 79).

What daily tasks of yours correspond to a "chop wood; carry water" mindset/spiritset?

Can you recognize God's time while participating in a tense, humorless confrontation between coworkers?

Can you recognize God's time while answering the same question for the 10th time in a class full of fifth graders?

Can you recognize God's time while attempting to prepare dinner, hold a meeting on the phone, keep the baby from slamming fingers in the door, and supervise a homework session?

Can you recognize God's time while trying valiantly to find the bottom on your "In" box?

Can you recognize God's time while you are logged on?

Can you recognize God's time while stretching out in the hot summer sun?

At first glance, it may appear that today's gospel text depicts Jesus advocating a kind of "time off" from doing God's mission for his disciples. The "apostles" had returned from their mission (Mark 6:7-13) bubbling over with enthusiasm, anxious to tell Jesus all they had "done and taught"(v.30). In the midst of all this hubbub, of all the comings and goings, Jesus suggests that the disciples "Come away to a deserted place all by yourselves and rest a while"(v.31).

But the words and actions of today's text convey two messages two halves that combine to create one whole truth. First, Jesus does remind the disciples that they must allow time for recharging their spiritual batteries and resting their physical bodies. Second, however, this text demonstrates that even our "time off" is God's time. The scene in verse 33 suggests that despite departing from their old environment and responsibilities, Jesus and his disciples were still fully immersed in God's time.

From this biblical perspective, it is clear that sometimes we do have to take care of the self, so that we can then continue to do God's work with renewed energy and improved vision. But allowing our engines to idle for a while is different from completely shutting down all our systems. If we are genuinely "not making time for God," but rather seeing all time as God's time, we should be prepared to be surprised by God even when we are at rest.

The disciples thought they were escaping to a "deserted place" with Jesus. Instead, they had a short, restful boat trip and then witnessed the miracles of Jesus, the Good Shepherd, feeding the 5,000 and the divine Christ walking on water. Which experience do you think left the disciples more rested and refreshed in spirit? God was present both in their time of rest and in their "revving-up."

Have you ever just settled down with a cup of coffee, a favorite snack and a magazine, all ready to enjoy a little quiet time only to have a small visitor show up who has both the munchies and a favorite story he or she wants read? Which leaves you feeling more rested and refreshed: a half-hour with Newsweek or a half-hour with a snuggly child perched on your lap?

Ever been so tired that all you wanted to do was sit and zone out in front of the television? Too beat even to concentrate, you don't watch anything but spend all your time channel surfing from one video image to another. After about a half-hour of this, you're so exhausted all you can do is stagger off to bed.

For Christians who live always fully immersed in "God's time," moments of rest and relaxation don't constitute "downtime." Rather this is "uptime," the time we take to refresh our spirits and breathe in more deeply the presence of the Divine.

Are you busy scheduling your vacation plans this summer? Don't find time for God. If you are living a life of discipleship and faith, God is already in all the time you have. Summer is not the time to "wind down." It is our special time to "rev-up" our engines for the challenges ahead.

"Downtime" is "uptime" if it's God's time