Busy.
Its the buzz word of the century it seems. if you stop and ask anyone over the age of 10 about their lives, the word 'busy' is sure to make its way into the conversation.
Everyone is busy.
And I get it, life is demanding. There are bills to be paid, groceries to be bought, mouths to be fed, children to be loved, bathed, put to bed, taught, driven to school. There are jobs and church and volunteer and friends and family and the list goes on and on. Sometimes it seems as though the day is severely lacking in hours needed to complete everything on the 'to do' list called 'LIFE.'
American culture doesn't help. Subtly, culture has taught us that 'busy'= valuable, 'not busy'= not valuable. We've been led to believe that being busy is close to godliness. That's how the saying goes, right...??
My parents modeled really well the unique and difficult balance of hard work, and resting well. I don't know any other people that had that part of their lives balanced quite as well. Growing up I always knew that I was expected to work hard at school and at whatever task was before me-- to give it my best effort. But I was also taught to enjoy simplicity-- down time. To revel in it and embrace it. Sundays were our 'day of rest' and boy, did we rest. Taking a three hour nap while simultaneously stuffing my face with nachos and watching Nascar races counts as rest...
I recently graduated from University and I've heard the classic questions hundreds of times by this point "What are you going to do with your life?" Its daunting, really. But I appreciate that people are curious and that they care.
I decided before I graduated that I was going to take some time off. I was not going to work for a while. After all, I had literally had the busiest, most difficult, challenging, most rewarding, fun, full of laughter, full of tears, draining and rewarding year of my life. From sun up to sun down I was going. Constantly. And that is hard on a person, long term.
I've been home for over a month now, and people start to get antsy. They start to expect me to have a job by now. And I expect that too. But it isn't my reality, and in fact, my body is still recovering. And recovery is sometimes a long and fragile process. It cannot be rushed. So, 'recovery' in this case requires rest. And for me, right now, 'rest' means being content with taking care of our home (you would not believe the number of dishes two people can make in a day... ridiculous...), being present with my family, investing in friends lives-- helping plan weddings, and watch their babies and listen to their goals and plans. It involves making good on that goal of exercising regularly (I actually enjoy running now. I know, I nearly went into shock when I realized that too...). Its about bringing my cat to the vet and taking pictures of important events and going out to brunch with my sister.
Right now, my life is about the simple things. Loving the Lord and loving those in my direct line of influence. This is always my goal, but right now that is seen through the simplicity of my life.
And perhaps this glorification of busy actually hurts us more than it helps. Perhaps its become an idol and a place in which we've found our identity more than it is about living fully.
I am convinced that when God was creating, He chose to rest on the seventh day as an example to His children. As a reminder of the importance of rest.
So here is to simplicity and remembering that my identity, your identity does NOT come from being busy. I can be busy and not be productive. I can have a relatively free schedule and be more productive than one might imagine.
Time is the most valuable gift I can give to another. I am grateful that right now, I have an abundance of it to give. I think I am able to love others in a less hurried way because of it.
So my friends, learn to REST. It is not easy, and I am by no means an expert, but I am learning (by default, and my body rebelling against me) what it looks like to both live fully and to rest well.
Rest was God's idea, after all.
No comments:
Post a Comment