Went for a gentle walk yesterday. It is a sort of vacation style venture. I walk quite a bit in my everyday life, and perhaps don’t walk any more when I am on vacation, but there is a vacation pace that I have found. I grabbed my camera and stopped whenever something caught my eye. Less distance, more time. Less focus, more seeing. I’ve blogged on the topic before: sometimes there is a value in wandering and being a bit less driven by purpose an the need to accomplish something. On vacation, I can allow my mind to wander and be inspired by the ordinary. I don’t have to aspire to great achievements, it is acceptable to just witness the glory of the world that surrounds me.

Unlike formal gardens, which have their joys and pleasures, the woods have a kind of disarray, with lots of color in one place and a monochromatic look in others. The forest doesn’t care if a plant is a flower or a weed. Some of the weeds have beautiful flowers. The spaces of color stand out here in the Missouri woods because the background is a plate of shades of green. At one point in my walk yesterday, I was reflecting on how many different shades of green that I could see. The green of the oaks is different from the green of the cedars, which is different from the green of the grass, which is different from the green of the pond, which is different from the green of the lilies floating on the pond.

You might think that in order to be camouflaged in that surrounding, a creature would want to be green. As I walked, however, I ran into a box turtle who was very happy being brown. He didn’t stand out excessively, but since he was right on the path, he was easy for me to see. He didn’t seem to mind being photographed and gave me time to focus several pictures before moving on. Even then, he showed no need to hide. He stayed right on the path, allowing me to pass by on one side without even alarming him enough to get him to draw in his head.

A bit farther down the path I watched for a while as a spider began its work on a dragon fly captured in its web. The dragon fly was several times larger than the spider and the web nearly broke apart with the motions of the dragon fly. It held fast at several points, however, and the dragon fly succumbed to the sticky web. It is a drama that plays out every day in many locations. Usually such events are unwitnessed by human eyes. It is the kind of thing I might miss if I were in a hurry or had my attention focused on the usual events and problems of life. But in vacation mode, I was taking time and seeing things. A bit of motion in the qheriphy of my vision was enough to alert me to a wonder of nature.

Too often in my everyday life I am occupied with what seem at the time to be the big issues. There are decisions to be made, budgets to be balanced, causes to be supported, problems to be solved, people to be visited, plans to be made, proposals to be drafted, events to be planned and so much more that needs to be done. I have discovered, however, that some of my most creative thinking and some of the best ideas for moving forward as a community come from the times when I am less focused - when I am paying attention to a few small details instead of trying to get the big picture.

Watching a turtle invites me to remember the value of patience. Watching a spider going after its meal reminds me of the value of persistence. Capturing the image of a burst of color from a blooming weed reminds me that brilliance often comes in surges and that beauty is often the product of contrast with the background.

I am amazed at how things that seemed like big problems become minor challenges when I allow my mind to wander. There is something to the perspective of having left the main flow of business behind that gives one the perspective to discover potential new directions and possible solutions.

For years I have been writing that pilgrimage is not about the destination, but rather all about the journey. Sometimes, however, I forget the truths that I know. Vacation is good for me, but it is also good for the church. Our community grows through changes in perspective and it is important for leaders to look at the community from different points of view.

At home fall is in the air even though there are still plenty of warm days in store. You can feel the chill in the morning and know that the change of seasons is upon us. Down here, that change is much less evident. It stays warm all night long and daytime temperatures soar into the eighties - not at hot as mid summer for this location - but very summer-like for those of us visiting from up north. I suspect that it feels very different for the creatures who live hear year round. The woods are filled with animals preparing for winter. They have a sense of urgency as they feel the changes in temperature and length of day. With the nights getting longer and the days growing shorter there is much to be done.

I am grateful for the opportunity to visit this place and experience the riches of life that surrounds me. It doesn’t keep me from thinking about what is going on back at home. I still have my list of chores that need to be accomplished to prepare for winter, but a week’s break is just right to give me a fresh perspective and renewed energy for the tasks that lie ahead.

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