Seeking Rest

I am a doer by nature. I am not satisfied with myself or my day unless I can somehow see the fruits of my labor. This often leads me to be exhausted, overworked, and irritable at the end of the day. Over the past few weeks, I have tried to intentionally allow myself to rest more - and to enjoy it!

Two summers ago, I had the privilege of hearing Lauren Winner, author of Girl Meets God and Mudhouse Sabbath, speak at my church. Her great articulation on the traditional Jewish concept of rest has stuck with me since that day. The extreme application of this is that some Jews avoid working or creating anything on the Sabbath. In other words, there would be no scribbling down a phone number on a post-it because that note didn't exist before. There would be no lighting candles or turning on a lamp if that light was not already glowing.

It is hard for me to learn the discipline of sitting still, but I often think of the day I first learned to think about rest this way. Resting is not simply the lack of productive work. Rest in itself can be productive - it is a time for our minds to rejuvenate, a time to meditate and pray, and a time that reinforces the value of doing important work when the time comes.