ISBC 22 - Low-Power Mode
Chapter 22 of Hope: A User's Manual
I fret sometimes when I think about the problems we must face as a society—as a planet—right now, when nobody seems to be at their best.1
If you’ve followed along this far, you know that I love being out with my dog, Scout (who is currently laying on my feet as I type this). Most days, Scout goes with me on between 3-5 miles of walks/hikes . Usually a long one in the morning (2-3 miles) and a short one in the evening (1-2 miles). Scout has been a part of our family for nearly 8 years now and so a bit of math brings us to somewhere in the neighborhood of 5,000 walks for around 10,000 miles. This would b getting close to finishing the 12,000 United States Perimeter Trail. I am sure the numbers are off a bit - some days we were gone and so no walks, other days were shorter (too cold or too hot), some days only had one walk, etc. But we’re somewhere in the ballpark.
So it is no wonder that sometimes as we are walking, Scout decides that it is time to take a rest. This happened this morning - we were about halfway through our 2.5 mile walk and she wandered over in the grass, laid down, and when I came closer, she rolled over on her side for a belly-rub. Sometimes, low-power mode hits, and you need to stop to take a rest and, if you have someone who will do it for you, get a “belly rub” (or whatever suffices as that for you).
Grace. Grace. Grace. We push ourselves so so so so so so hard. Sometimes, we need to allow low-power mode to come on, to slow down, to rest, to restore. And yes, there are still things that might need to happen while we’re in that mode, but can we give ourselves grace and give others grace when we’re not functioning at full-power? And goodness, are we ever at full power?
In fact, on my smartphone there’s a setting for 80% charging. This is actually something that is better for the life of the battery in the phone - not always charing to 100%. It is healthiest for the battery to just charge to about 80% and only once in a while going to fully 100%. So even in our tech, we allow for some space to not be fully “on.” Can we allow it for ourselves?
So, Scout got her belly rub, she rolled back over and we were off for the last mile or so of our walk. (And she’s still laying on my feet and currently snoring gently).
If you had to put a percentage on your current battery power where would you be? What do you do to renew?
Grace, Peace, Love, and Joy,
Ed
PS - the Bible says a bit about this…Sabbath, rest, jubilee, stillness. You’ll find lots about them throughout…almost like it was baked into the story of creation. Of wait - it was… day 7…. God looked at all that had been created and God…rested.
McKibben Dana, MaryAnn. Hope: A User's Manual (p. 100). Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.. Kindle Edition.
Scout’s smile……..