Rest?! -- What is That?

"The apostles gathered together with Jesus and reported all that they had done and taught. He said to them, "Come away by yourselves to a deserted place and rest awhile." People were coming and going in great numbers, and they had no opportunity even to eat. So they went off in the boat by themselves to a deserted place." -- [Mark 6: 30-34].



This summer, Americans are taking the fewest vacation days ever recorded since modern labor laws were enacted -- 16 days off per year.

In this age of digital devices, which keep employees on an "electronic leash" for 24 hours per day, seven days a week, even time off is time devoted to work.

Once, in the "old days" before cell phones, I was traveling in a foreign country and I had a 1-800 number to call in for messages at work. When I found out that the 1-800 number did not work outside of the U.S., I actually pumped my fist in the air and shouted, "Yess!!" For once, I would have a real vacation.

The U.S. is arguably the most productive country in the world, but at a price. Increasingly, cashiers in stores are timed per transaction. If the cashier does not meet 90-95 % of the processing speed required by the company, they are labelled "non-performing". If the cashier cannot increase his or her time after re-training, the cashier is fired.

We all fully believe that we can multi-task effectively. The reality is, though, that already some electronic devices can process faster than our brains and than our fingers can keep up with. There IS a finite amount of brain power in our heads and if we try to do too many things at once, we end up doing too many things poorly.

Recently, critics have insinuated that Christians are anti-capitalism. I think that is an unfair accusation. What Christians are FOR is more balance in life. A realistic expectation of what a human can process in a day. More time with family. An amount of labor that does not land us in the hospital for stress-related injuries, heart attack or stroke.

Believe me, I struggle with achieving balance in my life, every day. I am born and raised American, after all. A good day to me is starting out with a to-do list of 12 things, but actually finding the time and energy to do 15 things. At the end of the day, I tell my husband, "It was a good day today. I met all my goals." -- Who am I kidding, I am a stay-at-home mom?! -- No ogre boss stands over me telling me to move faster,  no work rule insists that I call in my progress at regular intervals.

Then, at the end of the day, I complain to my husband that my knees hurt, my legs hurt, my feet hurt, my back aches, and I think I am getting carpal tunnel in my right arm. My husband says to me, "How much did you ever sit down today?" I look at him like he is insane. I know what he is saying, when he stares right back at me -- I am my own worst enemy.

I have actually taken time to reflect on why I do this. When I was 13, I was told that I almost died, as my mother was giving birth to me. I almost had no life at all. Ever since, I have been determined to fill every moment of every day, accomplishing something.

A wise woman asked me, though, 'Is that head-long rush the only way to make meaning out of your life?'

I am definitely a "Martha", the woman in the house who is so busy dusting, tidying, cleaning up, cooking, changing the linens, sweeping, pulling up weeds, that I miss the Jesus, the sacred treasure in my midst.

Slowly, I am trying to become more like Mary, who will sit and take in those precious moments that are here for only an ephemeral moment, before they are gone.

It is not a 'waste of time' to go away to a deserted place and rest awhile. If we have forgotten that, then we believe that we are machines. We have forgotten what it is to be human.

To be human is a messy affair-- we get tired, we get dark circles around our eyes, we work up a sweat and need to sit down  with a cool drink before we can go on, we have the need to get away from mind-numbing machine work and look into a human face, we laugh, we cry, we stare into space since we need the time to comprehend what just happened.

We cannot and should not blame ourselves for all this. If we do blame ourselves, then we are blaming our humanity, the very wonderful qualities that God gave us!

Go away. Rest. Sit and breathe. Gaze at the clouds. Smell the flowers and the scent of the rain. Watch a sunset. Wriggle your toes in the sand. Feel the warmth of the sun. Let the wind ripple through your hair. These are not a waste of time.

These are priceless gifts. From God.  If we sit down, and take some moments to rest and notice what God has given us, we are NOT lazy.  We are busy filling our souls.

[Related Posting: " Are You Martha or Mary?", July 21, 2013; "Come Away and Rest", July 22, 2012;  "Rest", July 5, 2011; "A Simple Summer", June 25, 2014].

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