Sabbatical Time

I'm taking some sabbatical time this summer.
First let me say how wonderful it is that I work in a organization that allows for sabbaticals.
Second I have to say how anxious I was taking time away from work that I love. When you like what you do, it seems silly to take time away.
Last, I had a difficult time getting my head around what a sabbatical was to be for me.
Gardening offers useful metaphors. There is the Levitical command to leave the fields fallow every seventh year. There is pruning of fruit trees and vines. There is also the more extreme "burn it down and plow it under."

With a large chunk of time and adventurous family, we made a plan that put to use my anxious energy.
But being two-thirds through it, Is like sitting in the midst of a weedy field, the pile of shriveled branches and the ashes of burn.
The miracle of sabbath, is like the miracle of gardening. God sends the sun and the rain. And heck, God sent all the original seeds too. The plants grow without us. Some even better than they did with our help. We aren't nearly as productive as we think we are.