better days

So yesterday and today have felt great. I have been active, gotten a lot of work done, and had some really helpful conversations about my worries about the Summer. Also as I was walking over to the pond with my sister today, I realized that being here in Bowie already feels less foreign and weird after only a couple of days. We really do adapt and readapt to anything. :)

As I was preparing for my sermon on Sunday about stress, I found two really good quotes:

Chinese proverb: Tension is who you think you should be. Relaxation is who you are.

I don't know about this one but it makes sense. I guess what gets me lately is the question of what is real relaxation and freedom and rest. It is not just laying around and watching digital cable. :) That may be part of it, especially when accompanied by people I love. But it is also an abandoning of all the shoulds in one's life and being present to the tiniest things in the present moment. The other quote I found says it better maybe:

"Genius is a child chasing a butterfly up a mountain" (John Steinbeck)

This can't be so far off. Jesus tells us to be like children in our faith. Children do not live and die by deadlines and derive their sense of self from their projects. Children have the good sense to stop what they are doing and run and spin and imagine.