Sabbath At Mt. Carmel
Stories
Lectionary Tales For The Pulpit
Series III, Cycle C
The cabins at Mt. Carmel Bible Retreat are small. Most have two small rooms; some have one large great room. There is a tiny bathroom with a utility shower.
Inside each cabin is a double bed and a set of bunk beds, a dresser and a small rod to hang clothes. Linens are provided for a charge and some of us are very grateful to have a ceiling fan.
Our group of fourteen cabins is set along a little walkway. Each cabin is about ten feet apart and each row of seven faces the sidewalk.
We all come from our busy lives to spend a week at Mt. Carmel for family camp. Many are pastors; there is also a carpenter, a writer, a teacher, an architect, a chaplain, many musicians, a physicist, and some retired folks. These are people with demanding schedules and heavy responsibilities. Yet we all converge on Mt. Carmel on a Saturday afternoon to begin a week of friendship, a week of limited cares, a week of rest.
And rest we do! We rest after Bible study, after meals, after worship, after swimming. We sit on chairs under a tree by the lake. We visit with others and we share time with our families. Some of us even network as we introduce others to people we thought "they should know."
Our vehicles are parked far away, forgotten. There are no telephones, computers, or televisions to distract us. This is one week of rest. It is our sabbath.
Jeff and Beth Sweet -- from Virginia -- have a cabin across from us and next to them is Beth's brother, Mark Vitalis Hoffman. Mark and his wife, Kathy, are pastors in Fargo. After visiting, we are happy to hear that Mark is our Bible study leader. Next to our cabin are our dear friends, Phil and Sharon Fox Bogen, a clergy couple.
Day after day we sit outside our cabins on plastic chairs, visiting about the children, Mark's study, or the lives that we have left behind for one week of sabbath. One week of rest.
Our children play together and soon we are switching children. Aaron and Andrew go to play with Devin while Kjrstin and Montana go play with Sarah. Our schedule breaks up with Choir Camp but we have plenty of time to play at the lake, to follow the nature trail or to romp in the playgrounds. I laugh as I eye the stack of action figures in the middle of the sidewalk.
It has been a great week. There has been a natural flow of conversation to stimulate our minds, a natural exchange of children, and a natural level of rest for the soul. New friendships have been created and old ones deepened.
Sabbat. Hebrew for "cease, desist, rest." We ceased our busy routine. We desisted and came to Mt. Carmel. We followed God's command: we rested.
Inside each cabin is a double bed and a set of bunk beds, a dresser and a small rod to hang clothes. Linens are provided for a charge and some of us are very grateful to have a ceiling fan.
Our group of fourteen cabins is set along a little walkway. Each cabin is about ten feet apart and each row of seven faces the sidewalk.
We all come from our busy lives to spend a week at Mt. Carmel for family camp. Many are pastors; there is also a carpenter, a writer, a teacher, an architect, a chaplain, many musicians, a physicist, and some retired folks. These are people with demanding schedules and heavy responsibilities. Yet we all converge on Mt. Carmel on a Saturday afternoon to begin a week of friendship, a week of limited cares, a week of rest.
And rest we do! We rest after Bible study, after meals, after worship, after swimming. We sit on chairs under a tree by the lake. We visit with others and we share time with our families. Some of us even network as we introduce others to people we thought "they should know."
Our vehicles are parked far away, forgotten. There are no telephones, computers, or televisions to distract us. This is one week of rest. It is our sabbath.
Jeff and Beth Sweet -- from Virginia -- have a cabin across from us and next to them is Beth's brother, Mark Vitalis Hoffman. Mark and his wife, Kathy, are pastors in Fargo. After visiting, we are happy to hear that Mark is our Bible study leader. Next to our cabin are our dear friends, Phil and Sharon Fox Bogen, a clergy couple.
Day after day we sit outside our cabins on plastic chairs, visiting about the children, Mark's study, or the lives that we have left behind for one week of sabbath. One week of rest.
Our children play together and soon we are switching children. Aaron and Andrew go to play with Devin while Kjrstin and Montana go play with Sarah. Our schedule breaks up with Choir Camp but we have plenty of time to play at the lake, to follow the nature trail or to romp in the playgrounds. I laugh as I eye the stack of action figures in the middle of the sidewalk.
It has been a great week. There has been a natural flow of conversation to stimulate our minds, a natural exchange of children, and a natural level of rest for the soul. New friendships have been created and old ones deepened.
Sabbat. Hebrew for "cease, desist, rest." We ceased our busy routine. We desisted and came to Mt. Carmel. We followed God's command: we rested.
