The Marrow of Life, A Parable of Sauntering

Shalom shalom brothers and sisters,

Today as I reflected back on the past week, I realized that it had been rushed from beginning to end. I was working on a lot of different projects, continuing to get organized in my new role, ensuring I am supporting some people I truly care about, as well as tending to our ministry and the new things we are working on, as well as taking care of home and family activities after work. As I reflected and chatted with my husband, we realized that we have been eating dinner late (often past nine o'clock in the evening) after we take care of and tuck in our fur babies (goats, guardian dogs, chickens, cat and little indoor Aussie) well after the sun has already set, and then aimlessly navigate Netflix or Prime to find something remotely entertaining to just rest our brains that are a bit frazzled from the day.

We also realized that neither of us have had much time with our beloved Jesus, that J.A.M. time (Jesus and me time) we both crave and need. We had tried to squeeze it in, but time with Jesus is not meant to just be merely "squeezed in". Our time with Jesus and living life is meant to be soaked up, sauntered through, meandered about, and fully taken in. For us, however, just like a train making its way to the end of the line, or in our case, the end of a week, we have gotten caught up in the push forward in days of late. Our days have rolled forward, from one station to the next, toward the final destination without time to wait for passengers running late to catch up.

Lately, we have found ourselves crawling into bed tired as the clock strikes midnight (just as the carriage turns back to a pumpkin and the coachmen back into mice).  Then just as we begin to be get into that lovely restful sleep we so desperately need, the alarm goes off again at 5 o'clock in the morning and the train is off and chugging along again as we "rinse and repeat" and start all over again.  Phew... it exhausts me just to read this.

Brothers and sisters, have you ever had a week like this? Perhaps you are in the midst of such a week right now. In reflecting back, I realized that we have been living life at a fraction of what it could be, not fully as God intended, but "multi-living", pushing forward, and "working for the weekend". As a result our discussion, we have decided to go back-to-basics, start over with what we know best—to go S L O W, pause, stop trying to hustle faster, and instead, move forward smarter. Instead of hustling to get "all the things" done and getting flustered over what is not yet complete or worrying about how it will get done, we are choosing to trust in the Lord and take life one step at a time, as my sweet Mother-in-Love often lovingly and discerningly encourages me to do. We are allowing the Holy Spirit to share the next and right steps forward and are choosing to bookend our day with Jesus and to live life fully as God intended instead of living life at a fraction while compromising the quality of our lives.
“When we operate at a fraction, we compromise the output.”

 Reference | "How a Simple Math Equation Can Transform Your Productivity"

By putting Jesus first each day, we are automatically spiritually grounded as we start the workday, which will allow us to work more efficiently and leave stress, anxiety, and/or worry at the cross. We can shut off the "noise", clear the "clutter" from our minds, and focus on the stuff that truly matters in the evening and on weekends—spending time with Jesus and loved ones, playing, resting, stepping out into the wilderness, going on adventures, giving, loving, and caring for others, breathing, pausing, and just being still.

Dear friends, we cannot stress the importance of all of this for our spirit, soul and body. God created us to pause, go slow, to reflect and enjoy life, breathe, love others, have a grateful heart and attitude, find joy, and to just be still. As my husband always says, we are not human doings, but human beings. God does not care about us pressing forward and doing "works". He is merely content simply being in relationship with us. He is focused on our hearts and loving us big over any "works" we do. He wants to hear all about our day, what is going on in our life—not only the things that trouble us so he can help, but also all about the things that bring us joy each day.

Life is simply too short to live at a fraction of what is available to us. There is so much more to life than rushing ahead and right past the little joyful things, wizzing past the beauty God has created for us to enjoy, or by being to busy that we miss spending time with our loved ones. God has so much more in store for us; we simply need to saunter long enough to slow down and tap into it. Once we do, we will not want to return to the frenzy, the rush, the hurry or the hustle we once knew.

"But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble." - Matthew 6:33-34 NKJV

As Thoreau so eloquently put it in his 1854 works "Life in the Woods”, let us “suck out all the marrow of life”.

“I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived. I did not wish to live what was not life, living is so dear; nor did I wish to practice resignation, unless it was quite necessary. I wanted to live deep and suck out all the marrow of life, to live so sturdily and Spartan-like as to put to rout all that was not life, to cut a broad swath and shave close, to drive life into a corner, and reduce it to its lowest terms, and, if it proved to be mean, why then to get the whole and genuine meanness of it, and publish its meanness to the world; or if it were sublime, to know it by experience, and be able to give a true account of it in my next excursion.” 
- Henry David Thoreau, Walden.

As, John Muir reminds us in "The Parable of Sauntering", shared in Albert W. Palmer's The Mountain Trail and Its Message (1911), let us start today; let us go slow, pause, reflect, breathe and just be as we stop along our journey to smell the roses and soak up all the joyful things.

“How much better to "saunter" along this trail of life, to measure it in terms of beauty and love and friendship! How much finer to take time to know and understand the men and women along the way, to stop a while and let the beauty of the sunset possess the soul, to listen to what the trees are saying and the songs of the birds, and to gather the fragrant little flowers that bloom all along the trail of life for those who have eyes to see!You can't do these things if you rush through life in a big red automobile at high speed; you can't know these things if you "hike" along the trail in a speed competition. These are the peculiar rewards of the man who has learned the secret of the saunterer!” - John Muir

Reference | "A Parable of Sauntering"

As Jesus so lovingly encouraged us,

"Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.” - Matthew 11:28-30 NKJV

My husband and I love Muir's "Parable of Sauntering" and his feelings around the word "hiking" so much that it has become a primary pillar for the mission of our ministry —to encourage people to "Get Out" into the wilderness so that they can clear the clutter, quiet the noise and get closer to God. As they do, they are able to heal, become whole and live well... spirit, soul, body. If you would like to be encouraged by Muir's parable as well, we invite you to watch a short video the Holy Spirit prompted us to create to inspire others "Get Out" with God like we do too! [The Viking & The Lioness - A Parable of Sauntering]. We hope you enjoy it and are moved to go slow and spend more time with Jesus as He meets you at the edge of the forest.

In His most precious love, we wish you God's most perfect peace.

We love you!

Kristine R. Ingraham, "The Lioness"