Last week I was able to take a short break and enjoy a week of leave.  Leave is a wonderful thing.  It provides an opportunity for us to take a break from the hectic pace of our jobs and spend some time in recreation and with family and friends.  Of course sometimes I plan so many things to do in my leave periods that I feel worn out at the end of my break.  The old saying that “I need a vacation from my vacation” is often true in my life.  However, this leave period I took it easy.  No plans, no itinerary and no pager.  Just a quiet week around the house.  It was very refreshing.

   Somewhere in the midst of my leave period between the withdrawals of the daily grind and the fantasies of retirement, I slowed down enough to encounter something or rather someone.  In the stillness of my relaxation, I heard God.  I heard Him in the buzzing palm fronds that I missed when I was rushing around.  I saw Him in the sunset that I paused long enough to enjoy.  I felt Him in the presence of my wife and children as we spent extra time together.  And the truth that I realized anew was that God had not been absent from my life during my busy schedule, rather I was running around too fast to encounter Him.

   The Psalmist David knew the truth that rest was important and he spoke of it in his poetry.  In Psalm 37 he says, “Delight yourself in the Lord; and He will give you the desires of your heart.  Commit your way to the Lord, Trust also in Him, and He will do it.  And He will bring forth your righteousness as the light, and your judgement as the noonday.  Rest in the Lord and wait patiently for Him.”

  Sometimes I have good intentions and poor judgement.  Mistakenly I rush around seeking the good things of life when they are right next to me all along.  At other times I am so frantic to see righteousness done and justice preserved that I overlook the good things I can do in my family, with my loved ones.  Sometimes, I succumb to the allure of this fast-paced world and I fret because of all I have chosen to do.  And in the midst of the everyday stresses of life, which all of us encounter, I am glad someone said to me, “Take some leave.” 

   God seldom screams our name when He wants our attention; He usually speaks in hushed tones.  It is only when we slow down and concentrate on Him that we can truly hear His voice and thereby, commit our way to Him.  However, when we do meditate upon God we will find our spirits restored.  So just as leave is important for our physical health and our emotional well-being, so too a time of rest is important for our spirits. 

   The grand old poem “The Laws of the Navy” speaks of the benefits of rest and is a fitting closing thought.

When a ship that is tired returneth

With the signs of the sea showing plain;

Men place her in dock for a season,

And her speed she reneweth again.

So shall ye, if perchance ye grow weary,

In the uttermost parts of the sea,

Pray for leave for the good of the Service,

As much and as oft as may be.