But there is one ritual many will not participate in, and that is the pastor's annual vacation. Yes, even our spiritual guides get some time off, and they appreciate their congregations' generosity.

Pastors are different from the rest of us. If they tried to stay home on vacation, they would probably have a lot of their usual things to do, from funerals and hospital visits to answering calls from folks who don't realize the pastor is supposed to be on vacation.

So most pastors go somewhere -- take a trip, for instance, to see another part of the country. Or the clergy family might take a class and live in a college dorm room for a couple of weeks.

Pastors don't make much money so they have to be a bit careful about where they stay on these vacations. Some pastors pitch a tent and cook their meals over a bonfire. Or they hope to find a cheap hotel and let the kids sleep on the floor. But few of them are staying overnight in four-star hotels.

Pastors also run out of ideas for vacations. They've been everywhere in the country and they can't afford foreign travel so they're always looking for new ideas. Here are a few ideas you can pass along for your favorite pastor to consider:

--One of the best places to vacation is in South Dakota, at a place called Bear Butte. This is considered a sacred place for the Lakota and Cheyenne nations. Many American Indians go there, climb to the top of the mountain and sit in smoke lodges and meditate in the forests.

A hearty pastor could take the family there, climb to the top and erect a tent. The whole family could spend a week or so meditating, studying the Bible and generally having a good time.

--Another great time involves a bit of danger. But since pastors are in such a serene state most of the year, there might be an advantage to risking one's life to have a little fun.

I'm thinking of sky diving, that wonderful sport where a person steps off an airplane and free-falls for hundreds of feet before opening the parachute. This will get the old holy heart beating at a fast rate, all the blood will rush to the head and sermon ideas will be running in high gear.

--Another nice vacation idea would be to try hot-air ballooning. This has to be a cross-country trip. Most pastors have seen the nation through the windows of a car. But they haven't seen it as a bird sees it, and this would give clergy a new perspective.

Once in a while, you might want to drop the balloon into a neighborhood and preach a sermon. Or you could just hover about 50 feet above the ground and say to a group of unsuspecting people, ÒGod is calling you.Ó This will give you many good laughs.

--Another fun vacation could involve hunting prairie dogs. If you've had a lot of problems with your congregation this past year, this would be perfect. It's a very easy vacation. You set up a card table out on the western prairie and scan the horizon. Prairie dogs will raise their scrawny little heads above the ground. That's when you blast away. Many farmers and ranchers will want you to do this because the prairie dogs can be big pests.

So you can sit at your card table with a can of soda and shoot to your heart's content. You won't make any money shooting prairie dogs because there is no bounty in most places. You would probably just give it to the church anyway.

--Finally, you could take the family to New York City and get lost. There are many dangers in the Big Apple, and you and your family can find them all. This will toughen the weakest family member. You will live in terror all week long.

If you ever do find your bearings again, you will have lots of stories to tell the folks back home, and they will be grateful they don't have to go to New York anytime soon.

The idea is to get moving soon. Start making your plans for the best vacation you will ever have -- because, you deserve it.

Clark D. Morphew