I remember as a kid touring the Valley Forge Military Park with my sister and her new husband and hearing for the first time Nat King Cole on the radio singing “Those Lazy, Hazy, Crazy Days of Summer.” Maybe it was the joy of a school-free summer. Maybe it was feeling special because I was spending vacation time with my sister and new brother-in-law. But something about the melody and lyrics resonated with my young mind and heart. To this day, when the first days of summer heat and oppressive humidity are upon us, I still hear Nat King Cole singing of “soda and pretzels and beer” and my spirits are lifted.How blessed we are to live in a part of the world where each of the four seasons has its distinctive character. I like to think of the winter’s chill, springtime’s promise, the summer’s sun and autumn’s color palette as a reminder of what Saint Augustine called “the diversity of God’s brilliance.” Maybe someday I will be attracted to a part of the world that is ever spring time, but, for now, the ever changing seasons invite me to appreciate and adapt to what nature has to offer.
A memorable part of my childhood summers was going on a picnic. I wonder, does anyone still “go on a picnic?” My mother would prepare food (always potato salad!), pack a large cooler and off we would go to a local swimming pool or lake to join other family members or friends to spend a day doing nothing! The kids would swim, the adults might play cards; but mostly they seemed to sit around on portable folding chairs and talk for hours on end. There were no cell phones, and no I-pods and imagine this: no one was bored! At some point the portable grill was fired up, no easy task since there was no such thing as easy-light charcoal in those days! Endless hamburgers and hotdogs and shared picnic food kept us happy and well-fed all day long. As evening shadows began to fall we made our way home, relaxed and rested.I wonder if that isn’t what summer is all about: finding ways to escape from what has become the routine hectic pace of life we live so that our bodies, minds and spirits are refreshed. So harried are we in this modern world that often vacation and time with family and friends have become one more thing to do rather than a time of refreshment and renewal.
On the western slope of the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem, the remains of a Crusader church are built over a cave where it is said that Jesus went with his disciples in secret. There, freed from the crowds (some seeking his counsel, some looking for ways to entrap him) he found a safe place to share his wisdom with those closest to him. On the other side of the Mount of Olives is the village of Bethany where Jesus found rest and friendship in the home of Mary, Martha and Lazarus. Jesus knew the importance of rest and friendship.
When the “lazy, crazy, hazy days of summer” come to an end, may a new season find us renewed in spirit because we too have made time for rest and friendship in the summer sun.
