The Third of the New 3 R’s
Return
Do you have a favorite vacation destination that you return to regularly? For us, it’s Eagle Crest, a resort located in Central Oregon. We’ve been going there almost every year since the early 1990’s. Our first stay was when our children were young. Now, as our adult children are able, they return along with their children in tow. What is the draw? Sure, the amenities and activities are great, not to mention the sunshine and warm temperatures. Really though, a big part of the desire to return are the memories and the relationships that were cultivated and strengthened during our times of recreating together.
The third R of the new 3 R’s, Return, serves as a signpost directing us back to the basic foundation of life- relationships. It’s not simply a return backward to a season when we spent less time on our devices. I like the way Ruth Gaskovski puts it. Returning is “away from the virtual and a return toward each other. We are embodied relational creatures who thrive only when we are known and loved.”
I recently had a conversation with a pastor who is retiring from his church. The shutdowns, the move to so called virtual church, the masking for those who eventually did return to attend, just took it out of him. Ministry through a screen didn’t work and left, at least for him, a permanent mark.
What might it look like to return relationally in a visceral way?
The stories these bloggers tell will help us know what this might look like:
Katie Marquette: https://bornofwonder.substack.com/p/is-your-phone-robbing-you-of-experiences
Caleb Silverberg: https://www.thefp.com/p/why-i-traded-my-smartphone-for-an-ax
Tsh Oxenreider: https://thecommon.place/p/leavinginstagram
Dixie Dillon Lane: https://currentpub.com/2023/09/15/you-really-can-just-unplug-three-months-later/
Daniel Joseph Petty: https://danielpetty.substack.com/p/week-7-the-disease-of-discontent
Matthew Crawford: https://mcrawford.substack.com/p/the-reality-crisis
Justin Hanagan: https://www.staygrounded.online/?r=1hzala
Kaitlyn Deyoung: https://digitalwithdiscernment.substack.com/
In this advent season as we look forward to and celebrate the incarnation, it’s a perfect time to consider what it means and looks like to return. How this plays out will be different for each of us.
Merry Christmas and thanks for reading!
Curt
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