Take a break

For years, one of the vehicles in my garage was a 2012 car that we had bought used. It was big enough to haul people and stuff, but not too big to park in Chicago. The bronze color didn’t show the dirt, and it also matched our house. There were no bells or whistles, which was fine with me.

Through a series of events (long story), we have recently acquired a much newer car that came with three different owner’s manuals. It definitely has bells and whistles, and I have a lot to learn about how everything works. It’s like driving a computer.

Amid the endless beeps and alerts that warn the driver, one message caught my attention. It appeared during the 12-minute drive from office to home. “Consider taking a break,” the dashboard said. (The coffee cup icon was a nice touch.) Seriously. The engine was barely warmed up. Was I driving too fast? Did I turn too wide when I rounded a corner in that zigzag neighborhood that hugs the river? Did I make an incomplete stop at the unnecessary stop sign where Spring St. dead-ends?

Or is this new-fangled car so smart that it knows I was just coming off two straight weeks of meetings and deadlines—the latest marathon in an overwhelming year?

The car is right. I should consider taking a break.

Maybe we all should. Maybe we all need to be unplugged and then plugged back in again.

If you need a cup of rejuvenation, here’s a place to go: The Church of the Brethren communication team provides tiny retreats—short online posts that offer a brief respite, a moment of contemplation, every Monday. Each post gives a word, photo, scripture, and simple activity. You can sign up to receive an email each week when a new message is posted.

The posts are explained this way: “A tiny retreat is a chance to take a break from the day and, just for a moment, lay down all you are carrying. Retreat to a sacred space of beauty, scripture, and meditation. Be blessed.”

You can find tiny retreats at www.brethren.org/pause. Next time the world sends you an alert, you can tell it yes. Yes, you are taking a break. You will be back in a moment, after you are refreshed.