Keeping the Camping

While reading by the fire, I glanced over at a cut throat game of Pirate's Dice happening at the picnic table and realized that this moment, this calm, this sense of peace was what keeping the Sabbath is all about. And I was filled with a sense of goodness.

Normally I run my life by the calendar. I can't make plans or a decision without first consulting its bytes of information; holy placemarkers of importance in our lives. Appointments, meetings, parties, social and school events -- all pulling and tugging, jockeying for position and attention. All wanting us front and center.

When camping there is none of that. We wake when we are refreshed, and go to bed when the marshmallows are gone and the fire dies. We eat when we are hungry and when we are not. Fish for hours, and swim until our skin is consumed by goose pimples. We play games for endless hours; and for better or for worse; I practice the banjo. At night there are flashlights out to help reading by a fire. We are rested. No major meals are planned. No fantastic plan is followed. The kids are smudged with dirt and soot morning to evening and then some. And the rocks about the site are marked with the coal graffitti claiming we were here, relaxing, and having fun.

Keeping the Sabbath. Some may look upon this commandment as an inconvenience, or old school. But in this hectic world we live it, it just might be the key to success, balance and harmony.