Everyone loves a holiday. Some of us organize our lives around the next ‘get-away’ and that projection of bliss gets us through whatever tough stuff is right in front of us, or behind us, for that matter. I have heard it said that vacation anticipation has become the 21st century opiate for the masses. We’re all looking for a little soul restoration.
Yet doesn’t it stand in direct conflict with Oprah’s mantra to live in the moment, be present and plant ourselves in real time? It’s no wonder we’re confused! Even moderate adherence to both streams of thought can have us living contrary to the one value or the other. What’s a girl to do?
Happily Oprah isn’t the authority on how to live a full and abundant life in the present tense. It’s an old thought and one that the writer of the gospel of Matthew penned long ago for our benefit these many years later. “Give your entire attention to what God is doing right now, and don’t get worked up about what may or may not happen tomorrow. God will help you deal with whatever hard things come up when the time comes.”
I’m in holiday mode and it seems appropriate to relish the thought as we play on the westcoast of Vancouver Island with our family. It’s easy to live in this moment but when the harder moments come, and they will, it’s comforting to know the God of rest. “He makes me lie down in green pastures, He leads me beside still waters; He restores my soul.”
