When was the last time you woke up in the morning without a
plan for the day? When was the last time you sat in your home and did nothing?
For many of you I suspect is has been a very long time. It has been too long
perhaps.
Though
it goes against the American work ethic, against our sense of achievement and
development, doing nothing on occasion is a really wonderful thing. Let me be
clear, when I say “doing nothing,” I mean literally not having a single
obligation. It’s not taking a class or doing your chores. It’s putting aside
that never-ending list of have-to’s to do whatever the moment calls you to.
Somehow
the day of Sabbath has been largely lost in contemporary America. Dedicating a
day to rest and renewal isn’t an easy thing to do when the world around you
whirls on in its rapid pace seven days a week. I do my best to take either
Saturday or Friday completely off from work. I succeed in doing that about two-thirds
of the time. I know many of you come to church on Sunday’s as a moment to
recharger. Then you gather for a meeting or whisk off to activities with your
children and grandchildren. Or you return home to tackle the list of chores.
Certainly, the sense of productivity is admirable. But you need more than an
hour or two at church to recharge. You need to unplug from your commitments on
occasion, weekly even.
I
know the voice in your head tells you “daylight is burning, this mess isn’t
going to clean itself up, my kids are looking forward to this adventure, I NEED
to get a jump on the work week.” Well this month I give you permission, I give
you homework to do nothing on occasion. My friends we live in paradise. Take a
moment and enjoy it.
No comments:
Post a Comment