What do you do to relax? After a long day dealing with politics and people, Edmonton North MP Deborah Grey likes nothing better than to hop on her Honda Gold Wing 1200 and go for a ride in the Alberta countryside with her husband Lew.

Out there on the country roads, with no phones and no fax, it’s "the ultimate" for de-stressing, says Grey, who is retiring after 15 years in Ottawa, first as the only Reform Party MP and then through its transitions to the Canadian Alliance and the Conservative Party of Canada.

Grey also admits to being a "deadly Scrabble player," enjoys singing gospel songs and has been known to show up on TV as the "date" of comic Rick Mercer. "We have a great time together, actually," says Grey. "I love to laugh."

Everyone needs time out. Responsibility—whether in the pulpit or caring for people or anything else—can be wearing, and a time to recharge, physically, emotionally and spiritually, is vital to any person’s health.

It took Laurel Buckingham, senior pastor at Moncton Wesleyan Church, years to realize that. "I was a workaholic for a long time," he says. "About the only diversion I had was that I was a fanatic about keeping my car clean." He couldn’t fathom doing anything that didn’t have some practical purpose.

But three years ago Buckingham bought a boat, and now he spends his day off motoring around the Saint John River, alone or with friends or family members. Sometimes he’ll go out to the middle of the river, shut the engine off and read a book. And then, "I just feel like I can go back to the challenges and be so much more invigorated and renewed," he says.

"I’m far more effective by taking that time off work."

Marg Gibb, president of Women Alive, is an energetic Type A personality who gets recharged "just being with a group of people. If I’m even slightly weary and I’m with a group of people I come alive." Because she travels a lot, the times at home are also special. "I actually enjoy being in my kitchen, preparing a meal for friends and then having a really good laugh," says Gibb.

A mother of two and grandmother of one, Gibb likes to do something creative and fun when she gets together with her family. Recently the family wrote, acted and videotaped a three-act play. "We try and do something different," she says. "That definitely de-stresses me."

Different diversions work for different people. Flyn Ritchie works long days as editor and publisher of B.C. Christian News. He doesn’t take much time off, but when he does, he’s likely to be found on the edge of a soccer field, cheering on one or all of his three sons. Anglican bishop Anthony Burton of Saskatchewan makes sure he gets out three or four times a week for a long run with his dog through the woods near Prince Albert, Saskatchewan.

Getting out into nature is a big draw for Christian leaders who spend a lot of time in a city office. When Bruce Clemenger, president of the Evangelical Fellowship of Canada, has a Saturday off, he saddles up one of his horses and heads into the woods, far from cell phone signals.

Riding requires concentration. "You can’t be absent-minded when riding," says Clemenger, who has taken his fair share of "expedited dismounts" in stride. "On another level it’s very rhythmic." Wandering along trails and taking in the environment—the trees, the animals and birds—is "completely therapeutic," he says. "I find the stressors, the issues we deal with at work, just kind of drift away."

Given three hours off, "I wouldn’t be golfing," says Clemenger. "I’d be on a horse."

One person who would be golfing on a day off is Mavis Etienne, an addictions counsellor in Kanehsatake, Quebec, and overseer of the Mohawk Bible translation project. "I’m not a good golfer," she confesses. "But I enjoy God’s creation that’s out there. You’ve got no care in the world except getting that little ball in the little hole. I don’t care how long it takes me."

One of her favourite golfing destinations is Hawaii, where she goes every winter for a month. And after a day on a sunny Hawaiian golf course, Etienne might visit her friend Don Ho’s night club and end up on stage singing "Amazing Grace" in Mohawk.

Whether it’s getting out into nature, singing gospel songs, having a good laugh, or G.K. Chesterton’s preference, "the noble habit of doing nothing," a diversion from the cares of work and ministry does much to feed the soul.

Debra Fieguth is a freelance writer in Kingston, Ontario who enjoys riding her bicycle and getting dirty in her garden.