It is not so easy to write a Sabbath email in the belly of the beast, yet here I sit at Rockefeller Center in NYC. What an assault on all your senses! A rock concert just ended at NBC’s “Today Show.” It is not just the center of Manhattan, but also commerce, banking, media, pop culture, fashion and even LEGO’s. Everything that is fleeting and temporal in this world. How do I survive? Well, first and foremost it helps knowing and reminding myself that I don’t live here.
I am going home in 12 hours and can go back to a better country in the Catskills. There is rest there. In fact, when I took landscape design at the University of Connecticut they said a landscape should try to incorporate three factors to maximize a sense of peace and tranquility. I am blessed to have all three at my home in Delaware County. Firstly, you want to create a sense of a view, a vista of color, where you preferably can see for a distance. That is why people love going to the ocean or the mountains. It inspires and causes reflection. Secondly, you want to incorporate the sight, and particularly the sound of running water. That is why you often find ponds and fountains with cascading water at parks. It’s why I love to vacation on Cape Cod where I can hear the sound of the waves. It’s the sound of timelessness and peace. Thirdly, pastoral animals have a remarkable affect on people. They have a pace and personality that’s incredibly restful. God takes care of them and He takes care of us.
Apostle Paul wrote that “God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us … and seated us with Him in the heavenly places, in Christ Jesus.” This Sabbath reflect on where you really live, it is far better then even the Catskill Mountains. You may have been in the belly of the beast this week. Imagine your most peaceful and restful landscape; heaven is better then anything we could ever imagine or design. You and all other Believers are ALREADY in Heavenly Places. Ask God to give you a taste, a whiff of Heaven this day. He can transport you there, for His arm is not shortened. Trust Him to give you what you and your family need.
God bless you and Happy Sabbath!
P.S. If you are thinking of adding a pastoral animal to your landscape stay away from goats! They eat the tulips.
