Going off on the big cruise. I don’t so much want to get away. I want to come away.

The apostles gathered together with Jesus; and they reported to Him all that they had done and taught.

And He said to them, “Come away by yourselves to a secluded place and rest a while.” (For there were many people coming and going, and they did not even have time to eat.)

They went away in the boat to a secluded place by themselves. (Mark 6:30-32).

On Wednesday night, I was up till 3 finishing my work. On Thursday night I was up till 1:30 with the last of the packing, cleaning and the myriad chores that accompany a big trip.

Four hours after I fell into bed, I got up again, pulled myself together as best I could, and we left on the series of flights to bring us here to Dublin. So busy, so infernally busy on the days getting ready for this big trip. The cabbie who picked us up after we’d collected bags and gone through customs was sympathetic.

He asked how long it took us to get there, and when he found out it had been about 18 hours, including stopovers and shuttles, made an impressed grunt. “So yuzz are fairly knackered then?”

And so we are. It’s not the travel, though that has taken its toll. It’s all the days and months leading up to it. Greg and I have gotten so busy with the new business and all the other responsibilities that there never seems like any time for anything. Not for prayer, not for eating.

And so I’ve been thinking about the verses from Mark. It may be ridiculous to think that a cruise ship can have the same vivifying effect of a quiet fishing boat, but it’s what I’ve got to work with. I’m hoping that this cruise will help me hit the reset button. Like Martha, I have been anxious about many things. I want to come away, to go where the high-pitched little demands of life can’t find me for a while.

There are other things I want to get out of this trip. Because I just can’t turn off my Culture Watcher side, I’m curious to see what things feel like in “post-Christian” Europe. But that’s just a sort of side dish. The main thing is to shed my fatigue. That’s what I’m hoping for.

And by the way, I can say that tonight’s dinner brought me one step closer, in a little way. Good Irish tea with the RIGHT amount of milk and sugar.

Ahhhhhh…