What I've Learned About Rest
Three months away leaves a person with some things to think about -- ideas and practices to weave into "normal" life again. I've thought a lot about what it means to rest, why we do it, and how we do it (that will be my first sermon back, by the way). Here's what has stayed with me, and how I plan to incorporate what I've learned into the rhythm of life. (By the way, you can read more about what I've learned from my reading and writing projects over here and here).
Rest Depends on Work: Rest is important -- but so is work. In fact, understanding this helps us distinguish between rest and laziness. Laziness is an indifference to work -- but rest is what happens after "6 days, we labor and do all our work." We are made for work -- work isn't a result of the curse of a part of the fall. It was what we are made to do, and for that reason we should learn to work hard, and work diligently to the best of our abilities. I would even say that we can't properly rest until we know that a certain portion of our work has been completed well. Early on in my tenure that Friday was the best day to take off. Many pastors take Mondays off --and if that works, fantastic. But for me, Mondays wouldn't work. Mondays usually follow Sundays, and Sundays are busy days for pastors not just in terms of preaching, but in terms of questions and concerns that come up during the day. Members approach about events or questions or concerns in their life. I can't sit on those until Tuesday. And, I don't do well knowing that a sermon isn't yet written. But by Friday, the sermons are done, the work for Sunday is complete. Then, after 6 days of laboring and doing my work, it's time to rest. Before you rest, think how you are managing your time to good effect. Are you using time constructively in order to be productive? Are you viewing and carrying out your work as a calling from God? Are you being diligent in whatever it is that God is calling you to do?
Rest is Mandatory: Biblically, rest isn't a suggestion or a good idea. It's something that God has commanded his people to do -- the Ten Commandments spell out dedicated and regular times in which God's people are to set aside the busyness of their daily life for the purpose of rest. What this means is that if we haven't thought through how we are practicing rest, and how we are incorporating patterns of rest into our daily life, we may be out of step with God's will for us. It's no secret that Western culture is beyond the breaking point when it comes to being busy. Ask anyone how they are, and likely they will answer, "Busy!". We are busy shuttling our kids from one activity to another. We enroll them in theatre groups, sports teams, academic competitions... Along with that, we work long hours, we volunteer at our kids' schools, we serve on committees in our local church, we attend this bible study and that small group meeting. Many of these are good -- even necessary things. But somewhere along the way, we've lost the ability to rest, and in doing so, we aren't caring for ourselves, we lose our effectiveness in serving our neighbor, and ultimately, we are probably busier than God intends us to be. If you see yourself in this, the last thing you need is a guilt trip from me -- you probably know already that you are busier than you wish you were. This isn't meant to beat anyone over the head -- I'm right there with you, fighting the temptation against busyness. In fact, in the early stages of my Sabbatical planning, I was sharing my plans with a group of colleagues and friends. They all told me that my plans were too ambitious; my sabbatical was going to be too busy! I hadn built in very little time for recreation, for fun. My days would have included 8 hours of reading and right, and almost no opportunity for geocaching downtown, or playing frisbee golf, or doing an impromptu science experiment with my kids.
We aren't meant to live this way. Life is not all about what we get down or accomplish. Life is meant to have play time. Even as adults. We ought to think through the patterns we cultivate that energize us. We need time to grow our hobbies. To slow down and relax in life. For me, Fridays have always been my "day off." My Sabbath. But, I realize that I've let them dry up a bit in recent years. They've been restful, but only to a point -- I've used the time to pay bills, go grocery shopping, and get stuff done around the house. It's not all bad -- I've always cooked a nice breakfast Friday mornings, and lingered over a coffee as well. But I'm going to change some things up a bit. First, I've decided to clear out the clutter from the day. No more checking social media (wastes too much time, and can add unneeded stress!) during the day. No more paying bills (can add too much stress!) and no more grocery shopping (I can do that on other days of the week). Instead, I'm going to use the time to do things that charge my batteries. I've discovered that I enjoy photography, and so I'm going to see where that goes as a hobby. I'm going to spend time each week working through a book, '75 Masterpieces Every Christian Must Know" to learn more about art through the ages. I've realized how much I appreciate art -- and this will help me keep that going. I'll keep the usual hobbies going too -- cooking, writing, and the like. These are things that energize me, and enrich my life.
My encouragement to those who have been following along here is to think through the same question. How are you being intentional about incorporating patterns of rest into your life? What steps do you need to take to clear out space and time in your life to take care of yourself? Where do you need to say "no?" in order to give that space?
You might well be thinking that this is easier said than done -- and that was the next lesson (actually, it was one of the first lessons that I learned). But I don't want to pour too much into one post -- so I'll hold off, and finish tomorrow!
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