To care or not care?

How does a Pastor have a day off? In my mind I wrestle with the idea if a Pastor has a day off then does that mean he stops caring, sharing God's word, loving, or being a shepherd to his people? So does that mean I completely remove myself from the loneliness, pain, suffering of the people and tend to my personal desires? Oh to be fishing now, rather than sitting in my apartment. What's to say I couldn't have planned it, completely detach and tend to my selfish desires, my own happiness. I can't understand it, therefore I write in frustration of how does a Pastor get a day off? I get it, we should, there's a lot of stuff we deal with that people may not grasp, but in my mind/heart I feel like I'm neglecting.

There's always work to be done in any position/occupation. We can always work and be productive. So I guess on the day off, I should be productive in things for the apartment, personal production? Would it then be mean if someone calls and not pick up the phone because it's my day off, "your trouble, not my problem today. Call me tomorrow, then you can have my ear and heart." Of course it's not like that, but where does one draw the line? Also how does a Pastor completely shut off the things on his mind that need to be done the next day or like the following study? I wonder what the Early Church Apostles did?

I think the day off then has to be a complete removal from society, go to a place where no one can find you, get involved in something that has no connection to God-really?

Separate my Pastor role from my personal life, hobbies, fun things to do side is nearly impossible, if not impossible. My role as a Pastor involves people. I thrive on the energy with people. I love to fish, but with people. I love to take pictures but enjoy it more while taking pictures of people (getting a shot of them that makes one say wow or see a side of them rarely captured.) Oddly, yes I enjoy being with people.

Maybe at the end of all this, it's to be refreshed and re-energized, ready to attend to the daily rote of being a Pastor. Figuring this out will take some time, maybe this question of what days to care or not is on the forefront of my mind because of the opening section in 2 Corinthians. Where does one draw the line to care for someone, to comfort them? Is there a boundary? For now I can't see a parameter, then again it's my day off, I shouldn't care about this. Sin talking there. Here's an attempt to attend to personal things: time for a car wash. Blah.

Devil's Bathtub

Camping? I've gone several times. I can boast that I've camped on the island of Arran, off the coast of Glasgow, Scotland. But that place had some running water. Camping without running water? The idea intrigued me. More than the idea, the challenge was what interested me. To go without technology, without running water, to be "roughing it," to not be interrupted by TV, Facebook, Blog, to not be interrupted by the phone which reminds you of Facebook, apps, games to play, music, and to disappear above 7,000 ft amongst these skyscrapers of trees, these bright lights shining down at night which they call stars, and to be engulfed by the smell of pine and fresh air that pierces your lungs like you've never inhaled this quality before--yeah I'm in. All was left was to actually go out, hunt and eat our kill for the night. Yup well in a way we did that, I guess you can say we provided the fish, however I left too early to taste the little lake dwellers.

Camping? The idea to me is foreign, having grown up near or in a metropolitan city my whole entire life. Ask me to give you a 2 hr night time tour of NYC and you will be in awe of how much you can see in those quick 120 mins topped off with a sandwich from Mamoun's, only the best schawerma sandwich place in the states. Leaving the city life and being dropped in the middle of this massive forest, I've come to see a side of myself that I thought never really existed.

I wish I could take pictures of every inch of this serene place. I think the best was to prepare to go from 7500 ft to 9300 ft--our hike to Devil's Bathtub. It was 4.5 miles one way with the weight of about 12 lbs in my pack, the kamikaze style mosquitoes, and through a trail of giant trees. But as soon as we got over the incline that made your lungs feel like they were stretching to get air in, it was like this "bathtub" was ready to receive guests for the very first time. The picture above does not grasp this amazing place at that elevation. A bit of an ironic name for this place.

I think camping was topped off with the adrenaline rush of jumping 20 ft from a cliff into the unknown waters of Ward Lake. So overall, this nomad enjoyed lying under stars, talking with others about God, eating beans out of a can, tri-tip steak sandwiches, camping, climbing, fishing, hiking, jumping off a cliff, and above all being separated from the distractions of media. Jumping off the cliff initiated and sealed a desire to remain amongst those giants, lights, and climbing at elevations that stretched the lungs to breath.