I have just returned from a few days away at a friend’s cabin. It was a much welcomed and needed retreat from the daily grind. It is always a good sign to me that I need this break when the things that normally I find exciting in my life’s work become, instead, something I want to run from. Over the last couple of years, I have actually come to experience and name this in a particular way. I describe it as a need to ‘push away from the table’. By this I mean that there becomes a time when it feels like I am sitting at a table laden with all kinds of great food, interesting conversation,and fine people surrounding a feast. But I feel as if I can’t swallow one more thing. I can’t think of another word to add to the conversational mix. I need to push away from the table. The past few days have provided just that opportunity.

This morning I sat down to look through a book I purchased as a guide to my daily walk through Lent.This 40 day observance of the Christian household begins tomorrow. It is a book by Paula Huston called Simplifying the Soul: Lenten Practices to Renew Your Spirit. As I read through the introduction I was struck with her words: “I’m surprised anew by the knowledge that I’m once again undergoing a spiritual ‘recalibration’. The mechanism of my soul is, in a very real way, being cleaned, repaired, and reset.”

Yes! That’s what I needed. That is what happens when I need to push away from the table. It is not that there is anything inherently wrong with me or with my life. I just need a recalibration to restore the balance my spirit longs to hold, a balance that is most truly who I am. Does this make sense to you? Have you ever had this experience? Huston later goes on: “I am released from the bondage of complexity.” Yes! That’s it. The bondage of complexity.

One of the thoughts that I wrestled with over the last few days was the ‘bondage of complexity’. So often I find I allow my days to be filled to the brim with detail upon detail with little room for taking the long, cleansing breaths that connect me with my body, with my own daily walk with the Holy. Before I know it my shoulders ride closer to my ears, my breath becomes shallow, my ability to focus on the present without allowing my mind to jump ahead to the ‘what next?’ is nearly impossible to control.

So what happened in these last few days that allowed those chains of complexity to loosen? Staring out at a frozen lake helps. Spending time watching people fish also works. Watching birds fly in lacy formations in the sky and come to feed or squirrels chasing from tree to tree is also a mind calmer. Turning off the television and most technology is a given. Watching the day arrive is also good. Waiting for the darkness to lift, holding the gaze of a pink sky until the golden disk of the sun moves over the horizon is also a way to remember to connect with Breath. Noticing the fingernail of the moon in a deep blue sky is a good ingredient to add to the mix. Walking and walking some more can’t hurt. Looking down and seeing the prints of those with whom you walk the Earth, those who don’t hold the bondage of complexity in their consciousness, those who are vulnerable at every turn,is important. Allowing your breath to slow and rise and fall with the gentle breeze moving through the trees is also good.

What needs to be recalibrated in your life? What complexities are holding you in bondage? As this day unfolds and the season of walking with Jesus in the wilderness becomes an invitation, may you find all you need for the journey. May you also have the wisdom and grace to let go of all that will not serve you well. May we all find what we need to be cleaned, repaired and reset.