I can’t begin to tell you how many times I’ve complained to a younger friend about my misbehaving computer, fearful they were going to tell me I had ruined it and needed to buy another. Why do I never anticipate their usual response: “Have you tried rebooting?” I am not even sure what happens when you reboot a computer! Why is it better afterwards? Why do the insides of a computer get shuffled and out of order anyway?
As Mary Ann and I sit here on 4th Street at Camino Coffeeshop in Winston Salem, NC, we are doing for our spirits what I imagine rebooting does for a computer. I don’t know why my life and spirit gets all shuffled and out of order! It seems like all the little stressors, the schedule, the complications and obstacles worm their way into my inner being causing havoc as they go. Before I know it, I am a tangled mess.
For me, rebooting often means finding somewhere new that draws my attention away from my usual routine, that helps me experience beauty and wonder, and that provides quality time for just the two of us. I’m sure that what reboots my spirit is not exactly what reboots yours, but I’m guessing we all need it from time to time. Even “Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed.”
Are you in need of a little rebooting? What would that look like for you?
Pastor Don
