Why I love to commute to work by bicycle.

1. It's fun! And I feel better when I exercise.
2. It's a way of caring for God's creation.
3. I enjoy saying hello to people walking on the sidewalk, and feeling a part of community. I'm not closed off from others in a car.
4. It's patriotic. The less gas I burn, the less money I put in the hands of oil producers who hate our country.

It's the second week back from two weeks away, and I'm getting back into the swing of things. Time away is almost always called "vacation," and that's usually what I call it too. But I wish I could get used to using "holiday," like the English do. "Holiday" comes from "holy day." With that mindset, time away is holy!

The root of "vacation" is "vacate." Often, vacation time is only an escape from stress back at home. Vacation is wonderful as long as it lasts! But, since it's just an escape, the stress hits hard upon the vacationer's return.

What if we looked at time away as a string of holy days, holy time, time to gain prayerful perspective on whatever it is that is stressing us? Then time away is not an escape. Instead, we're conscious of our burdens, we look at them with a certain distance, we lift it all up to God in prayer, we allow God to refresh us and re-energize us, and, upon our return, circumstances feel lighter. With that consciousness, and with those practices, time away becomes sabbath time!