A Reflection on Work and Rest

We've already entered into the month of August.  Summer always flies by, doesn't it?  Yet we, at least as Westerners, all have this idea engrained within our minds that summer is for a combination (or all) of these three things: vacation, rest, and relaxation.  And I myself would say I have adopted this mentality too.  I'm not saying this is a bad mentality to adopt - certainly.  But over the few months, my idea of what a summer ought to look like has shifted.

Yes, we are all called to rest.  I'm certainly not denying that aspect of our lives.  Even God Himself has asked us to rest on the seventh day of the week.  Our bodies are indeed capable of work, but God did not intend for us to work without taking time for rest.

Going down a side tangent... sometimes, we are placed, whether by choice or not, into situations where it appears - at least on the exterior - that we are not needed.  Where am I going with this, you might ask.  Often, more often than not, we tend to put our worth in the work we do in our day to day lives.  In a simplified phrase, "My work determines my worth".  Yet, this mindset is very damaging.  When was there ever a time where God told us that our dignity was to be measured by the work we do?  If our dignity - in particular, I am referring to our value and worth as a human person - is determined by the amount of hours we put in, or the quality of our work, or the position we are in, or our social status - if we adopt this mindset - how are we ever to treat everyone with equal dignity?

And yet, that is the society we live in today - it is quickly becoming utilitarian.  "My work determines my worth".  Oh, if we only knew the dangers behind this mindset.  

Yet I'm not here to talk about the doom and gloom of utilitarianism.  No, rather, I am going to focus on the aspect of rest in regards to work - an aspect of work which is often, especially in today's society, overlooked.

Rest.  What comes to mind when we imagine the word, "rest"?  It doesn't even have to be sleep.  The "sensations", if you will, that we often experience when we imagine "rest" are akin to contentment, stillness, and peace.  And dare I say, it is not just me when I mention these things?  These experiences are not at all far off from what we mean when we say the word: "rest".

And isn't it peace that we all so deeply desire?  When we truly enter into rest, we are able then to enter into real contentment, into real stillness, real peace.  And isn't that the goal?  We are created for union with God, who wants to give us these things eternally!  So, when we take a moment, or a day, or whatever time is allotted to us for rest, I would encourage all of us to enter deeply in to that rest in order to be strengthened for the work that is to come.

I am reminded of the story of Martha and Mary.  Though they both had different roles, we are called to imitate both women at different times in our lives.  Yes, Martha was "busy", so to speak, doing the tasks that were required of her.  Yes, Mary was the one who came to sit and listen and Jesus' feet.  But can we not also see how, at different points during our lives, we are called to adopt the position of Martha, and at other points, Mary?  Jesus calls us to rest with Him, yes.  But He also calls us to action.  Think of when he sends the Apostles out; when he tells them, "Go and make disciples of all nations..." (Mt. 28:19).  This is not just a call to rest, but a call to action, a call to work - and it is precisely through doing the work of the Father that they are filled and strengthened.

Yet how does this apply to my mundane office job, you might think to yourself.  And this is something I wonder to.  How is it that if I am not actively going out and evangelizing, or preaching on the streets, that I am still doing the work of my Father?

God called us all to be evangelists, yes, and preachers, yes.  But some of us are called to be evangelists and preachers through our mundane office jobs, or even through our long hours at the construction site.  Whatever it is that God has called us to do, or whatever situations we've been put into in our lives, whether by choice or not, we are called to be both evangelists and preachers through these jobs.  There is a saying in Christian tradition, that, "actions speak louder than words". So no, our work is not worthless.  Our work speaks volumes.  The important thing is to remember Who it's all for.

Some final remarks...
1) Our work does not determine our worth.  God has given us our worth and dignity when we were first created, and that dignity remains engrained within us throughout the course of our lives. 

2) We need time to rest.  God did not ordain it so that we would work without ever stopping.  We take time to rest to strengthen our bodies, our minds, our souls, our hearts, in order to draw close to God, and in order to be able to do well the work which we have been tasked with.

3) Both our times of work and our times of rest are designed to draw us closer to God.  So no, we are not called to work all the time, but neither are we called to never take action.  Both our work and rest are leading us towards our eternal home.

I'd like to close with this little poem of mine...

The toil and labour

Which I have often sought after

In my pride

Have only come

To dissappoint.

The rest and stillness

Which I chased after

Evaded me

Night and after night.

The stillness, the peace

Where had they gone?

But when I looked

Beyond the trees

I found there

Waiting for me

A home, a house

A family, a life

With work, with rest

With toil, and strife.
In the midst of all this

I find myself here

Pondering now

The truth of it all.

Work and rest

Play and prayer

A delicate balance

I seek after now.