Then, because so many people were coming and going that they did not even have a chance to eat, he said to them, “Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest.” – Mark 6:31
It has been nearly ten years since I resigned my position in industry as the CEO of a small animal health pharmaceutical company and began a full‑time appointment in academia.[1]
I can honestly say that over these past nine years, I have never worked harder in my life.
As a chemistry professor, I am constantly on my mettle. Whether I am staying three steps ahead of my students to deliver engaging lectures on the ever‑changing, always challenging material in both the classroom and the laboratory, helping them with assignments during office hours, mentoring the TAs and lab technicians who report to me, or managing my self‑imposed “publish‑or‑perish” dictum, I rarely have a moment’s rest.
Apparently, I am not alone. Most of my colleagues are on the same treadmill.
In a 2018 editorial published in Nature entitled “The importance of taking a break,” the editors warned about burnout and the need for academics to pay more attention to work-life balance.[2] They wrote about the need for a “total unplugging” from everything academic: work, work-related emails, social media, and—I add—for those of us at Christian institutions of higher learning, the constant demand to mentor and disciple a needy cohort of mostly Generation Z students.
The editorial cited a “global survey of university staff carried out by the Times Higher Education in late 2017 [that] provided a snapshot of campus life in which many academic staff felt overworked and underpaid, often with serious negative impacts on work–life balance, relationships and mental health.”[3]
To put this into perspective, even Jesus sought a place where he could be alone from the crowds and the responsibility of daily ministry.[4]
And so, this past summer, I decided I was not going to teach classes during the university’s summer session or participate in SUGAR, our short-term summer research program but instead, take a much-needed break, spending time at home where I hoped I could unplug, read a few books for pleasure, shut off that part of my brain fixated on academic writing, and most importantly, get away with my wife for a couple of weeks to some exotic place.
I am not so sure I was entirely successful. You can be the judge.
Short-term Missionary Trip
Although managing to avoid teaching summer classes, in mid-June, I travelled with ten students on an eleven-day mission trip to the Peruvian Andes where we worked alongside Wycliffe missionaries and an organization known locally as AWI[5] to assist in Scripture promotion among indigenous Quechua living in remote villages high up in the Cordillera Negra.[6]
Despite being a trip that is totally out of the realm of the ordinary, representing a complete break from the normal day-to-day responsibilities of academia—not to mention my comfort zone—these trips have always been stressful, involving huge amounts of planning in the months leading up to the day of departure. I managed to survive this year’s adventure despite coming home with strep throat and seriously wondering how many more of these mountain treks my aging body and aching joints will be able to endure.
Light Summer Reading
I don’t remember the last time I read a book strictly for pleasure. Even my older son commented about this. Wow! Is it that obvious? I thought to myself.
Try as I might, my pleasure reading got off to a rocky start with Sam Kean’s Caesar’s Last Breath, a layman’s book about the invisible world of gases in the atmosphere we inhale every time we take in a lungful of air. Next on my list was a book completely outside of my bailiwick: The Yearling by Marjorie Kinan Rawlings. I read the book in four days. I’m still scratching my head over the author being awarded the Pulitzer Prize for this novel in 1939. Granted, the book sold over a quarter of a million copies the year prior, and has been translated into twenty-nine languages—which is surprising—since all of the dialogue is written in backwoods, central-Florida, post-Civil War slang, some of which is barely intelligible. But what do I know? This is why I teach chemistry, not American literature.
I finally decided to take my son’s advice and get lost in some mindless fiction. David Baldacci’s John Puller series of four novels about an Army Special Agent in the U.S. Army’s Criminal Investigation Division (CID) who investigates horrific murders proved to be the escape I was looking for.[7] They carried me through most of the month of July when I read all four books in succession. I literally could not put them down.
Summer Publications
After receiving a rejection notice for a paper that the editor deemed “lacked academic rigor,” I took the hint and took a break from the “rigors” of researching topics for publication in peer-reviewed journals. As a former columnist and feature writer, my audience has always been the public, not academia. Frankly, academics talking to academics has never excited me. I did, nevertheless, manage to have two articles published over the summer. My continuing fascination with astronomy and UFOs took on a renewed life given the current craze due to the government’s release of “Top Secret” documents. This created an opportunity to refresh an older piece that had been published over twenty years ago. “The Truth Is Out There About UFOs,” appeared on the opinion page of the Orlando Sentinel.[8] My other area of interest is theology. While reading through Augustine’s City of God, I was struck by what he had to say about a Christian’s proper role in the political culture of his day. Given the uproar in some circles over so-called “Christian nationalism,” I found solace in Augustine’s theology and what he believed constituted a proper Christian patriotism. His thoughts—along with mine—were published in WORLD Magazine on June 23.[9]
Road Trip
After having missed the deadline to join a Gate 1 tour through Canada’s Banff National Park, my wife and I decided on a road trip to Gatlinburg, TN. Starting from our home in South Florida, we hop-scotched our way through the south, driving no more than five hours each day. This resulted in stops in Jacksonville, FL, Charleston, SC and finally Gatlinburg, where we spent four days walking around the crowded downtown district. It was Disneyland in Tennessee. We had hoped to hike, but it rained almost every day, and the trails were muddy.
It was a good thing we had taken all of our David Baldacci books with us. We did a lot of reading by the fireplace in the lobby. And we managed to see a bear walking through the parking lot of the hotel. We returned by a different route, stopping in Columbia, SC for one night, then again in Jacksonville, and finally home.
Spending four to five hours in a car several days in succession on interstates in the scorching heat and humidity is not my idea of a relaxing vacation—especially if you are caught in a deluge, which happened twice—once on the way to Gatlinburg in North Carolina and once on the way home south of Daytona Beach on I-95. Your prayer life takes on a more serious tone when driving through these apocalyptic storms. I had to remind myself, “Even the winds and the sea obey Him” (Matt 8:27b).
There’s a reason why fantasy stories like The Wizard of Oz, The Alchemist, and a million others, the titles of which elude me for the moment, emphasize there is no place like home, and you will always find your treasure at the place from where you started.
Arriving back home, I knelt and kissed the driveway.
Dog Sitting
Dog sitting was one of the high points of my summer vacation. Last November, on the Monday before Thanksgiving, I had the unsettling experience of putting down our fifteen-year-old Malshi. Our older daughter accompanied me to the mercy killing. Obiwan had been a Christmas present to our two daughters. If you have ever put a pet down, you can understand what I am about to say. I cried off and on for weeks. (I am getting choked up as I write these lines). My grief persisted into the new year. No one else in the family shared my feelings—not even my older daughter who had gone through the trauma with me. But she had said adamantly, “Maybe I’ll get a dog.” And this summer she did just that.
On two separate occasions we welcomed the newest member of our family into our home for five days. While it erased any lingering pathos over the loss of Obiwan, it did serve as a reminder about just how much time and care a dog requires. And like having grandchildren (although I am not speaking from experience), I hear they’re a lot of fun because eventually, you hand them back to their parents.
The fall semester is fast approaching. E-mails are starting to pile up in my inbox. The treadmill is accelerating. But I can’t wait to jump on it. Jesus reminds me: “My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest” (Exodus 33:14 NIV).
[1] Those curious about my former life as founder, CEO, and part-owner of New Chemic (US) Inc. are welcome to visit www.NewChemic.com where I remain involved on an extremely limited basis as a consultant, director, and minority owner.
[2] Nature Microbiology Editorial Board, “The Importance of Taking a Break,” Nature Microbiology 3 (October 2018): 1077, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41564-018-0269-5 (doi.org in Bing).
[3] “Surveying 2,379 higher education staff (83% of which were academics) from 56 countries across 6 continents (although the majority were from the United Kingdom and United States), the report revealed how most academics work well beyond their contracted hours, including holidays and weekends. Specifically, ~40% of academics work 10 or more hours per day and (not necessarily the same) 40% work 6 or more hours over the weekend. Furthermore, despite going on substantially fewer vacations than non-academic counterparts, more than 60% of academics gave up 5–10% of their holiday time to work, with ~10% of respondents giving up > 20% of their time off. Some of the factors identified by those surveyed as contributing to these working patterns include demands on time for bureaucratic tasks (not necessarily requiring particular academic expertise), growing workloads and an expectation to always be contactable.”
https://www.timeshighereducation.com/features/work-life-balance-survey-2018-long-hours-take-their-toll-academics (Free registration required to read the entire article).
[4] “At dawn, Jesus went out to a place where he could be by himself. The people went to look for him. When they found him, they tried to keep him from leaving them” (Luke 4:42 NIRV).
[5] AWI stands for the Associación Alli Willaqui or the Good News Association. https://awiperu.com/es
[6] I have been involved in this ministry for over twenty-five years and have taken students on these short-term mission trips since 2018. To learn more, see “Taking Students to the ‘Ends of the Earth’ to Share the Gospel in the Peruvian Andes,” Christian Scholar’s Review blog, August 26, 2022. https://christianscholars.com/taking-students-to-the-ends-of-the-earth-to-share-the-gospel-in-the-peruvian-andes/
[7] David Baldacci’s John Puller series of books in order can be found here: https://mostrecommendedbooks.com/series/john-puller-books-in-order
[8] Gregory J. Rummo, “The Truth Is Out There About UFOs,” The Orlando Sentinel, May 16, 2026.
[9] Gregory J. Rummo, “A proper Christian patriotism,” WORLD Opinion, June 23, 2026.
