Create it again

Sometimes you have the luxury (as I think of it, though many would disagree) of focusing on one thing at a time. Personally, I really enjoy it when you're doing something and get into the zone. You know what I mean, that place of concentration where you have pushed past the distractions and your whole self is focused on _______.

Fill in the blank with the objective of the moment - making the putt, finishing the painting, printing the tax return (ok, maybe not that), presenting your dry fly so well that a wild trout actually believes it's a bug instead of a feather-covered hook on a string.

Think about that last example. Of course it is more fun when you actually catch the fish. And that's the part everyone asks you about. But that's the external part, the physical part, the measurable result. Losing yourself in the pursuit of the goal is in some ways more deeply refreshing than attaining the goal. (So is the true refreshing the art of thinking about something other than myself? My pastor might say yes - I need to think about that part some more.)

When we think of refreshing, we tend to think of recreation. Recreation certainly is important, most would agree. After all just look at the word. Re-create, or literally, "to create again". Nothing wrong with refreshing the body, ought to be done. Probably much more often than most of us actually do it.

But I think God has been better to us than we realize. True refreshing is available all around us, every day. We don't have to go anywhere or buy any equipment or tickets. Refreshing has more to do with attitude, reorienting our internal equilibrium. An important part of refreshing of mind and of spirit, for me at least, is somehow tied to concentration. Getting to the level of focus that alters my experience of time. All of a sudden you come back to earth and realize you don't know what time it is because you have been so focused on _______. You're not sure if it has been 3 minutes or 30. To me, this brings refreshing.

The best is when our whole body, and mind, and spirit are unified in the chase. This is the ultimate place of refreshing. Interesting that God's word teaches us to live every moment like this, fully focused on loving God with everything that we are.

I would like to think about this some more, and truthfully have enjoyed the earliest moments of the day here by myself. It has been refreshing. The house is dark and I have a steaming mug of coffee. But upstairs I hear 2 year old Jack, out of bed early and embracing the day. My moments of focused concentration at an end, it is time to focus on the needs of others. Let me take this refreshing and share it with others today. Time to lay down my own agenda, time to embrace my son.