one perfect moment

I had a moment last weekend when I wanted time to stop.

I was driving to church Sunday morning after spending the weekend at a retreat hosted at camp Hess Kramer, a camp owned by the Wilshire Boulevard Temple in Los Angeles. Camp Kramer is located a few miles north of Malibu, just across Pacific Coast Highway from the ocean.

As I got up early that morning I drove down to the highway and turned south. The waves were crashing to my right. The sky was gorgeous. We had rain over night so the air was clean but the sky still piled full of storm clouds. After a few miles I turned west and started to drive up Decker canyon and then over the hills into the valley. Every turn offered an amazing vista.

I felt so good. And so peaceful. And although I was looking forward to worship, my role in the church also meant that there would be stress and responsibility. Being a minister is a job after all. I was loathe to trade those graceful moments in the hills, with the business of church.

But I wanted to be at church, too. I like my job. I like the people. The stress and challenge of work is part of what makes life interesting, and overcoming challenges is part of what makes life satisfying.

There's a tension between the healthy spiritual advice to live in the moment, and the healthy spiritual advice to stretch and grow and experience life richly. I tried as well as I could to appreciate the wonderful morning, the surf, and the clouds, and the winding road. But I also kept my eyes on the road, and my foot on the gas.