Anna and I often joke that we have a “cellular relationship.” Not just the kind of cellular that come from knowing each other after thirty years of marriage, but the kind that comes from being unable to spend face-time with each other. Our only connection when those busy times occur is with our cellular phones. Without them, and our commitment to carve out time alone, our cellular relationship would have decomposed a long time ago.

Sometimes the pursuit of a mission means setting aside such necessities as face-time for awhile. Jesus and disciples were so busy ministering to the crowds that surrounded them that they didn’t even have time to eat. (Just for the record, I’ve never been that busy.) They set aside their sustenance to fulfill their mission. “My food,” Jesus declared on another occasion, “is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work.” (John 4:34) Possessing a mission more grand than the mere pursuit of necessities separates us from the animal kingdom. Yet, while we may aspire to be like Him, none of us are Jesus and even He needed rest from the mission.

Your thoughts? Are you running so hard you’ve forgotten how to rest without feeling guilty?