Friday, October 16, 2026
If I could set you free, I’d let you out to roam, play, or discover. I’d let you walk along the shore and stumble into interesting finds. I’d let you stare out the window and contemplate the treasures of the great outdoors. I’d let you sit and contemplate and discover dreams unseen – joys and adventures.
May I rest, be on sabbatical, play and romanticize? May I frolic and be frivolous, adventurous and eager to go where I am sent? May I stumbled into interesting people and commune, maybe even find one to kiss and touch? May I see smiles and relaxed people.
Imagine a life from which you don’t need a vacation. Imagine the richness, the frolicking nature of a walk down the street – from a dog’s perspective. Happy and free. Just to do what we do–but with new hopes for seeing what there is to see and experience in that moment.
Imagine living on sabbatical. Imagine living in a Tahitian hut, the ocean surrounding you. Imagine living on a beach, carefree and alive. Imagine that, even without that.
Sabbatical living. Vacation, romance and warm fuzzies. If you can do this with little, and you can do this in your backyard, and you can do this with a meandering walk in a park – what joy! If you can play joyfully by yourself, poor as a church rat and adventuring in your own imagination. WOW.
To be on sabbatical every second. From Hebrew šabbāṯ ‘to rest.’ Too bad that resting from laborious futility is a funeral affair. Could we give you rest before we lay you to rest?
Some of the most restless people are in church “with” God, “with” pocketfuls of money, and “with” insurance policies on everything.
If you want to be free, you must learn to do gleefully without.