<\/p>\n
In case you haven\u2019t noticed, Fall Break isn\u2019t really much of a break. Unless you are Dean Eccles and his wife AJ, who ran off to Italy and the Alps, most of us are working hard over break even if there is a change of scenery. Most faculty I know are facing a pile of grading. Most students have papers to write or exams to study for\u2014or both. Staff may be taking a few days off, but at this point in the semester, no one has \u201cextra\u201d time to rest. I have a report to write, a book to finish for an assessment working committee, and well, no more than anyone else. With some luck and a little prayer, I am hoping that everyone travels safely and stays healthy, so there are few hospital calls to make.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Don\u2019t you wish sometimes that you could stop the world for a few hours and catch up? Sunday afternoon my mom and sis took the kids. I got so much housework done I couldn\u2019t believe it\u2026and I have to admit that the dust bunnies I encountered might be confused with abominable snowmen. I will never win any awards for house-keeping. What if I just had a day of rest\u2026a real Sabbath? Of course in the next breath I start to think about what I could get done on a day of rest rather that how I could truly rest and renew my soul. Sabbath is not \u201ctime to catch up,\u201d but rather \u201ctime to stop and breathe.\u201d Maybe I should advocate that we have fall BRAKE instead of fall BREAK.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n What if life had an emergency brake that would just force you to bring things to a halt and take the time you need to heal and restore your soul?\u00a0 <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n Father Theodore Hesburgh was the president of Notre Dame for 35 years, and his tenure overlapped my growing up years in South Bend, IN, so I grew up hearing his quiet words of wisdom. I ran across this prayer of his this week and though I should share it as we approached fall break:<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n May this \u201cbreak\u201d be both a period to catch up and have moments of Sabbath for you. Travel with peace, travel carefully, and I\u2019ll see you next week.<\/span><\/p>\n Blessings, Stephanie<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" In case you haven\u2019t noticed, Fall Break isn\u2019t really much of a break. Unless you are Dean Eccles and his wife AJ, who ran off to Italy and the Alps, most of us are working hard over break even if …<\/p>\n
\nLord, give us the ambition
\nto do as much as we can,
\nas well as we can,<\/span>
\nas long as we can,
\nand the resolve not to despair
\n<\/span>over the things we cannot do.<\/span><\/p>\n
\n<\/span><\/p>\n