Last week was an unusually quiet week at the rectory. He allowed me to do something I had wanted to do all summer. Any. I’m not bragging or anything, but I can’t do anything up to the best.

The week, like every week, began on Monday. For me, there is always something about a Monday morning. And this Monday morning was to set the tone for the rest of the week.

It all started when the Gracious Lady of the Parsonage made one of her announcements. I live for these ads because I know they will affect my entire week.

“Our daughter and I,” she said matter-of-factly, “we’re going out of town all day Thursday.”

This was a shock to me, because I had not been warned. And you know what they say about being forewarned. However, I am not one to look at the teeth of a gift horse. I’ll take what I can take when I can take it.

Apparently, our daughter was going to take her daughter to visit friends for a whole week, and she wanted my wife to come along to keep her company. Trying to hide my joy at the whole thing, I said seriously, “Is there anything I can do for you on your trip?”

My offer obviously went unheeded because the next words out of my wife’s mouth were, “Now, here’s the list I made for you while I’m gone. Make sure you do everything on that list.”

I kindly accepted “The List” and looked at it casually. If I did everything on that list, she would have to be gone for a month. I smiled as she folded up “The List” and put it in my shirt pocket.

This is what I love about my Beloved. She is always thinking of me. Even when she plans to be away, she takes the time to plan my day. She couldn’t ask for a better help meet in the whole world. I promised her that I would take special care of “The List” while she was away that day. Fortunately for me, I did not define what I meant by “special care”. Having been married as long as I have, there are certain things that are not appropriate to divulge to your better half.

For the rest of the week she was busy making her plans and I, for my part, stayed out of her way as much as I could. My motto is never to interrupt someone who is busy with her business.

Finally, the day came. Early that morning, the three of them, grandmother, mother, and daughter, loaded up the car and began their journey. I stood in the driveway and waved until I couldn’t see the car anymore, and then waved for three more minutes just to make sure the job was done.

After closing the door, I sighed deeply, went to my easy chair with a nice cup of hot coffee, and began my daily activities. Oh sure, I read “The List” several times and then folded it neatly and put it back in my shirt pocket. As I felt in my shirt pocket, I said to myself, “I plan to take special care of this list.”

Knowing all the things I was supposed to do as described in “The List”, I decided to do something that wasn’t on that list. After all, I was now the captain of my ship, and I decided to live a rather dangerous day.

After pouring myself another cup of hot coffee, I went out to the patio, sat down to enjoy the morning, and watched the birds play in the backyard. This was living. No one could ever accuse me of being afraid of work because I had a whole list of work that needed to be done and I did absolutely nothing about it. It gave me a real sense of ownership. Right at this moment, I owned the moment.

I know what you’re thinking right now. You’re thinking, what are you going to do when your wife gets home? That’s the difference between the average person and Yours Truly. I am living in the moment. Whatever happens next has nothing to do with my enjoyment of the moment. In fact, I can get into some complicated trouble; however, it is a small price to pay for enjoying my moment.

Not many people come to the place where you can enjoy your moment in the sun. Some people have such great ideas of life that they work their whole lives and never make it. Some people work very hard all their lives to get to the place where they can’t do anything.

I am miles ahead of the common citizen. I find ways to enjoy doing nothing wherever he can find them. I purposely look for those moments and grab them when I can.

Even Jesus took time to rest. “And the [Jesus] He said to them, “Come to a deserted place by yourself, and rest a while, because there were many who came and went, and they did not even have time to eat” (Mark 6:31).

I am reminded of another old Pennsylvania Dutch saying: “The faster I go, the further back I get.”