Suddenly Sabbatical...

I find myself on sabbatical. After seven years of ministry in a church, I am suddenly on sabbatical. I don't quite know what to do with myself. Surely reading is what I am supposed to be doing, maybe cleaning the garage, alphabetizing the bookshelves, teaching the cat to fetch. Whaddaya do whe you're "off"?
The only kind of "off" I'm accustomed to is the kind of "off" the lady two houses away used to be when I was growing up. She used to pick imaginary lint off her sweaters and call her dogs that had been dead at least as long as my brother had been alive. Last night when I sneaked a sip of milk out of the jug, I found to my dismay that it was "off". Certainly, lights can be off, TVs, radios, and such, but some things are never off.

Refrigerators need to be on. That kind of "on" is different than the Henny Youngman kind of "on". Ministry and motherhood is the first kind. When someone is dying or barfing, it has been my experience that I am not surrounded by throngs of folks rushing to render aid. Lots of folks want to help and even more folks want you to feel better, but few are called to the side of those engaged in the bodily processes.

So, I am supposed to be "off". More difficult still, people are still puking and dying. How then do I measure out my days? Like the children of Israel, I am wandering in the wilderness relieved of the burden of stomping out bricks, but concerned by the immense flatness that stretches out before me. What shall I do? God willing- I will remember that the soul longs for God and emptiness begets longing. So, I will read and rest and remember that there were unexpected springs in the barren places.