Reset, Refuel

Renée Antrosio – January 3, 2023 2 Comments

The wind in the Chisos Mountains basin blows through my brain, clearing out my thoughts, leaving awe and empty space. I couldn’t imagine this place. We’d been off-grid for a few days in the silence of the desert. More camping, more hiking, seemed perhaps beyond us. Saturated with beauty, I worried we were too tired to appreciate the soaring heights and chiseled canyons of Big Bend National Park. But we were awestruck anew, energized to experience mountains unlike any others. 

Our devices have a hard reset option. Shut down. When your technology gets tired, the simplest solution is to power off. Rest your machine. Restart, reboot. I don’t understand how this works. Or why. But we humans seem similarly wired. We were created with the need for rest. Sleep each night. Sabbath each week. The urge to escape, to get away, clear our heads.

Jesus traveled a lot. Sometimes climbing mountains to be alone. To pray. Urging his disciples to go away by themselves to rest. To the beach. Or to the desert. So many microclimates and vastly different landscapes in the small country of Israel. A lot of walking, time for talking. 

“Orange time” is what we call the beauty before the sunrise in the desert. Worth getting up for. Cupping hot coffee in my hands, I stand in silence, grateful we kept going. It isn’t easy to leave everyday life behind for a bit. Something usually goes sideways. A busted transmission. A lost phone. A bee sting. The vehicles and the people are working hard to keep it together. Refueling frequently takes effort and planning. The sun and wind are amazing and exhausting. 

As we embark on 2023, I am hopeful that this experience is the hard reset I need to clear my head and reboot for the coming year. I am filling up my tank with beauty beyond description, too marvelous for words. 

I stand, I stand, in awe of you.
Holy God, to whom all praise is due,
I stand in awe of you.

May you find rest to reset and refuel for the coming year. May we experience awe of what God has done, is doing, and will do. And may the beauty of the created world enliven your vision for what can be. Welcome, 2023.  –Renée