Leaving on Holiday
We leave in a few hours to drive to visit family in the Savoie region, then on to Paris. I thought it would be fun to leave you with a really cool prayer I read last night to prepare my heart for our trip.
A Litergy for Leaving on Holiday by Douglas Kaine McKelvey from his book, “Every Moment Holy.”
O Christ Our Sabbath,
You have fashioned us to function best
in rhyming lines of work and rest;
like unspoken invitations
to that still greater holiday to come —-
when all burdens will at last be shed,
and gladsome joy stretch endlessly before us.
Bless now, O Lord,
this happy foretaste of that good end!
Bless our pending trip
here at its first christening.
Bless the days to come :
the days of duties undone,
unbuckled, unbound.
Bless our pilgrim quest for restoration!
Prepare our hearts to revel in new exploration of cities not our own, and of landscapes less familiar.
Along our way, in such places
whose contours you deliberately created,
may we pause to savor the evidences
of your diverse imagination
expressed in glories of scenery,
and in an artistry of peoples and cultures.
Waken our vision to perceive
such subtle expressions of your nature.
Rouse also our hearts
that we might be quietly shaped
by those whisperings of divine beauty.
In our days away let us play
together. Let us laugh together.
Let us be moved to speak
such meaningful words
as ought to be spoken
among family and friends.
Let us linger long at tables and drink deeply
of one another’s company, enjoying each
for who they are with the steady pressures
of our ordinary days now lifted.
As you called your disciples
to come away with you,
retreating from the crush of crowds,
pausing in their long work,
simply to rest, to reflect, to enjoy your company,
your words, your conversation, to enjoy
their fellowship with one another,
so help us also, in this time of our vacation,
to carve out spaces merely to be,
to be with you,
to be together,
to be refreshed.
Ah, how we long for that fierce freedom for
which we were created!
Let us taste it here in our travels!
Bless our journey and our arrival.
Bless our days spent away.
And bless also our eventual passage home, that
we might return as those who have been revived,
with hopes resurrected,
delight restored,
hearts readied again for forward movement into life,
strength renewed to shoulder once more the meaningful labors assigned to us in this season.
You are our rest, Jesus.
May this vacation serve your holy purposes.
May the deep enjoyment
and the grand adventure of it
stir within us eternal longings,
whetting our anticipation
of that best holiday celebration
that will one day
encompass all days,
and all of heaven
and all of earth.
Amen
“Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” -Matthew 11:28
“The Lord will keep your going out and your coming in from this time forth and forevermore.” -Psalm 121:8
Amen… ready or not, here we go! Thank you Lord for your provision to be able to visit our family. I love you.
Love Linz