A Sunday Thought About Going Back
Going back to school sticks with me somehow. While I left college a while back, the pattern of those school days remains. Back then, we started after Labor Day (as opposed to these days), so Labor Day was the slightly sad last "Hurrah" of summer. We all knew that within a couple of days of Labor Day (usually Wednesday after Labor Day), it was back to school. Goodbye to the "freedom" of summer, hello teachers, desks, books and homework.
Yet there was this sense of excitement, of something "new" when the school year began. I suppose it's like all beginnings: there's a freshness; we, others or the events of life haven't had a chance to spoil things.
So here we are ready to "go back" after Labor Day. For whatever reason that old pattern kicks in every year and finds me with that same mix of sadness and eagerness. I suppose some things in us never die; they're just lodged somewhere in our brain, our memory. You can't shake them.
And so the freshness of something new will take over for a few days and weeks. Yes, we begin anew. And as we all take those first steps back to school and work, you may notice that just over the horizon lies Christmas, when our weary world began anew, refreshed in the light of Christ. The Great Day will pull my thoughts and feelings stronger and stronger towards its renewing spirit, with each passing week, just as it has done as far back as I can remember.
I hope your holiday provides a bit of rest and relaxation, and a chance to "begin anew" in your work this coming week. And I hope the first inklings of the spirit of Christmas begin to tug at your mind and heart, as they will on mine.
Yet there was this sense of excitement, of something "new" when the school year began. I suppose it's like all beginnings: there's a freshness; we, others or the events of life haven't had a chance to spoil things.
So here we are ready to "go back" after Labor Day. For whatever reason that old pattern kicks in every year and finds me with that same mix of sadness and eagerness. I suppose some things in us never die; they're just lodged somewhere in our brain, our memory. You can't shake them.
And so the freshness of something new will take over for a few days and weeks. Yes, we begin anew. And as we all take those first steps back to school and work, you may notice that just over the horizon lies Christmas, when our weary world began anew, refreshed in the light of Christ. The Great Day will pull my thoughts and feelings stronger and stronger towards its renewing spirit, with each passing week, just as it has done as far back as I can remember.
I hope your holiday provides a bit of rest and relaxation, and a chance to "begin anew" in your work this coming week. And I hope the first inklings of the spirit of Christmas begin to tug at your mind and heart, as they will on mine.
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