Spring Break - What Is That?

Sometime during the month of March, school calendars have a week that is labeled as Spring Break. Teachers and students look forward to that week as a time of rest, vacation, or catching up. When the week is over and classes resume, a frequently asked question is "what did you do over spring break?" Spring Break is a fairly recent addition to school calendars (recent is a relative term based on a person's age). It didn't come into vogue until the late 1960s. By then I was nearing the end of my college career and starting seminary. I didn't get to experience a break because at that time I was not only enrolled in classes but also had a job that didn't recognize school calendars.

My grandparents were part of rural America and enjoyed life on the family farm. When they were in school, they had a fall break as well as a spring break. The fall break was during the time of harvest and it was all hands on deck. The spring break was a time of planting (again all hands on deck) so that there could be a harvest in the fall. Their breaks were all about work.

Now, you can hear families discussing their plans for spring break. Vacations and projects are the likely topics. Many churches use spring break as a time for mission trips that can include families.

My wife and I are both retired and have been for several years. Our plans for spring break sound more like spring cleaning than vacations. Of course, there is value in spring cleaning. My grandmother used to say that cleanliness is next to godliness. Besides having a clean house, spring cleaning can also help you find things you thought were lost, increase the amount of your weekly garbage, and discover things that could be of benefit to someone else.

It occurred to me that maybe spring break is a good time to consider spring cleaning, not only of a house but also of our lives. All of us tend to accumulate clutter in our lives. The clutter can include belongings, habits, or thoughts. Belongings are easy to sort through - worn out or broken go in the trash and wrong size go in the pass along pile.

Habits and thoughts are more difficult to handle. Habits can be good or bad. It is the bad habits that we need to determine to eliminate from our lives. The Bible is more direct and calls these bad habits sin. Who has these bad habits? The Bible states that everyone of us has them - "for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God." So on this spring break what bad habits or sins need to be rejected (repented) and put out of your life?

Thoughts are the hardest for most of us. Our thoughts can be hidden from the view of others far more easily than our habits. Too often we even tell ourselves that if no one else knows what I am thinking then it must not be a problem. The hidden problem is that our thoughts have a way of being put into action and that is how we developed those bad habits. In Paul's Letter to the Philippians in the Bible he wrote: "Brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable - if anything is excellent or praiseworthy - think about such things."

In other words, replace the hidden thoughts with those that build up rather than tear down.

A trip, a time of sleeping in and getting extra rest, starting or finishing a project, catching up on where you are behind, cleaning out a closet or straightening a garage or basement are all worthwhile activities for spring break. However, don't neglect the most important area that needs attention - your own life in relationship to God and to others.

Whether you are still in school and get the benefit of a calendar spring break or whether you are a full-time worker or retired like me, we all need a time of setting things in order and focusing on that which has both immediate and eternal consequences.

Have a great and productive spring break