There is nothing slower than the week before vacation, except, perhaps, the clock in the last hour of a shift. I also have a recollection of that last little bit of the school day being excruciating. It can be true in situations where you are ready for whatever is happening to end, or when waiting for the arrival or start of a new event. Christmas Eve night as a child.  The lag between the house lights dimming and the stage lights coming up. The moment the balls start to

fall as the Lotto is drawn. Counting down with mission control before a launch. All of these are examples of the exhilaration of anticipation. Each of these can be moments when time seems to slow down. So it is, as I count down the 60 or so hours until my annual two-week vacation begins.

And yes, I am counting down. Don’t get me wrong, I have plenty to do before I go; my to-do list doesn’t care that I will be away. I am going to be quite active between now and then, to be sure, and yet it is there in my mind and sneaking into my thoughts as I make my way through this week. In the spaces between tasks, meetings, writing, on the drive back from the hospital, and all the other things I’m engaged in, I realize I am ready to step away, if only for fourteen days. 

I learned years ago that I need more than a week of vacation to unwind. One week is really only enough to run out of things to jot down for when I get back from vacation. The second week is when a real sense of relaxation and re-creation can take hold. I take other time off during the year, often to spend time with family, like our annual trips after Christmas and for Memorial Day weekend. But those trips are generally hectic and rushed and there is never enough time to see all the people we want to see or we worry about getting the girls enough time with their grandparents. As much as I enjoy those trips, they are rarely refreshing in the way that we shape our summer vacation to be. 

We know that humans require a certain amount of re-creation time. I’ve written about Sabbath before. In one sense, my two-week break is my annual Sabbath time, which helps refresh me for the majority of the year the way a good day off can recharge my batteries for a given week.  I don’t always get my Sabbath day each week, but I have made sure that I get my vacation time. It’s really bad for my health, physical, spiritual, and emotional, if I don’t. Because I know how important it is, and I know what the research says, it’s always surprising to remember how poor a job we do with vacation time in this country. 

The United States is one of just a handful of nations in the world that does not guarantee a minimum number of paid days off to its people. Of those that don’t, only one, Sri Lanka, has a population greater than Glynn County. Of the twenty wealthiest nations in the world, only one doesn’t require paid vacation time (guess who?). Of the other nineteen, only two others, Canada and Japan, mandate less than 20, but Canada has 9 paid holidays throughout the year in addition to ten vacation days. What’s really interesting is that it was the United States that introduced the idea to the world. As far back as William Taft’s proposal for 2-3 months off in 1910, various people have championed the idea that workers need respite to be the most productive. Over time, others picked up the idea and implemented it, though we have never followed through.  While the average employer makes allowance for some paid time off, many don’t. On average, the amount of paid time off has been declining in recent history. 

We are hard workers in this county, working more hours per capita than almost anywhere else. But for all our hard work we are not the most productive. It sounds

counter intuitive, but taking breaks and recharging our bodies and souls makes us more productive in the long run. It’s like stopping work to sharpen a saw, our dialing back the force of your swing to make the golf ball go farther. Sometimes we need to rest, if only we would give ourselves the time and space to do it. 

I am grateful that the Church understands respite and re-creation time and allows me to have vacation time, given that so many go without such time off. Thank you for that. I hope that we each find time to get away from life’s demands in such a way that our souls find rest and our worries can wait a bit. Some things, like health concerns for ourselves or a loved one cannot be left behind, even on vacation. Deadlines, commitments, to-do lists, and all the rest of the self-afflicted busy-ness can be put away for a time, however, if we will allow ourselves to do so. 

I can’t say I won’t think about the Church while I’m away, but I can say that I won’t read any emails until I get back. I can’t say I won’t have any brainstorms about some of the initiatives we’re undertaking, but I will try to jot them down quickly so I don’t worry about forgetting them, and I won’t do much with them until I get back. I’m going to do the best I can to make this a truly relaxing vacation, so that when I get back I have more energy and better health for the upcoming program year. I’ll see you all in August!

Tom+

A Vacation Prayer

Gracious God, it’s hard to shift from a life of busy work to a period of quiet relaxation. Help me let go of my need to produce and of my worry over what will happen at work while I am away. As I give myself to the relaxation of mind and body, let the activities of my work life silently recede into the background. Let me open my soul to you as if it were an empty canvas waiting for the creative touch of the artist’s hand. I ask this for the sake of your love. Amen.