Winding Down

Here I am in my "corner chair" in my office at home. This is my place where I meet God in prayer and Scripture. There is something about a place to go to regularly to meet God. This is my place. You can see the fish tank of African Cichlids on my right and the window on my left letting in the morning sun. When its earlier you can actually watch the sunrise over my neighbors house. I hope each of you have a place where you can go regularly to meet with God. A place of prayer.
So...heres a riddle. What do all of the following things have in common.
Padding 9 miles on the Passaic River, reading the last books of the Bible from Daniel - Malachi, afternoon naps, reading Waldron Scott's The Renewal of All Things,  daily 2-3 miles walks on the streets-Eastside Park- Garrett Mt, extended times of prayer,  figuring out how to use my new Macbook, reading the NT books Acts- II Corinthians, hanging out with Debra, snowshoeing in Harriman State Park, cooling out on the backyard grill,  daily workouts, going to church at New Song Community Church in Harlem.
What all these things have in common is the first week of my sabbatical. It has been a wonderful time of winding down, slowing down and finding a new rhythm. For these weeks at home I have found it helpful to create somewhat of a daily schedule that includes 1 hour of prayer, 2 hours of Scripture reading/meditation, 1 1/2 hours of physical exercise (workouts/walking/paddling), 3 hours of reading other books and then a few hours building something in the basement.  It has been a good week to quite myself, prepare for the rest of the sabbatical and begin to listen better to God.
Tomorrow morning I fly to San Francisco CA where I will spend 4 days at Incarnation Monastery in Berkley and then another 4 days at New Camaldoli Hermitage in Big Sur.