Resting Well

How doing nothing can be an act of faith.

French composer Claude Debussy said, “Music is the space between the notes.” As a minimalist, I love this quote: it reminds us that beauty needs a certain amount of emptiness to be appreciated. The space between notes allows them to resonate, reverberate, and reach their full measure of expression.

Crowds of people start coming together. Pilgrims from differing directions and routes begin converging as paths become trails and trails become roads. Signs along the route begin to advertise the albergues available in the next town or city. On some days this can make your pack and feet feel light. Other days exactly the opposite can occur.

There is always a small group of travelers at the first available place to sit in the shade and grab a cold drink. Usually it is best to walk an extra five minutes to find a nice quiet place to relax, free your shoulders from the weight of your backpack and prop your feet up on the chair across from you.

There is no growth without rest. No progress can sustain constant forward movement without taking the time to recover.

God rested on the 7th day.

Our bodies only grow stronger when they are resting.

The American spirit is decidedly anti-rest. The country was founded and developed by individuals who came over and got to work immediately. There was no other option. There was no going back. The first group that came over was threatened by starvation and disease and the only way to fight back was to keep working.

That mentality is hard to shake. There is an idea that our worth is so closely tied to what we can produce in American society. We regularly speak of individuals in terms of their net worth and rank them accordingly. One of our first questions when meeting someone new is to ask them what they do.

It would be naive to think that this thinking hasn’t crept into the way we view each other and ourselves.

Standing in stark contrast to that idea however is our universal need for rest. We were each created with the biological requirement to sleep and recover. God modeled for us what that might look like in the act of creation. After working six days, he rested. We are advised to do the same.

The rest though is not dolled out as punishment or to be restrictive. It is meant to aid us and protect what is valuable. The Sabbath, the rest in the Bible, was not a time to sit idly at home and do nothing aside from planning the upcoming week. It was a time to reconnect with family. To eat well and reflect on the idea of time.

There is a tendency in every human to claim ownership of what we find in our possession. Nobody has to teach us to do this. Anyone with children knows how early the screams of “mine” can fly out of a toddler’s mouth. Most adults are more sophisticated to be so obvious in our behavior but our hearts are bent just the same. We want to be in control. Of our time, our money, our relationships.

Resting is a way of resetting not just our energy but our soul. It reminds us that the world does not depend on us. That we can take a break and not only will everyone else be ok, but we will be ok. It reminds us that we are not the supreme authority that we can make ourselves out to be in our mind.

Not only does it give us permission to relax but it can free us of our fear. Workaholism is driven by ambition but also by fear. Fear that there will never be enough. That if we take a day off we will fall behind or miss out. Somebody else is going to take what is ours if we turn our back or let down our guard. This mindset keeps us from being generous and kind to our neighbors. It can cause us to eye others with suspicion or view them as competition. None of these helps us in the ultimate goal of loving our neighbor as ourselves.

Our souls and emotions need time to rest. To recalibrate and recenter on what is true about us and the world we live in.

When we set out for Santiago de Campostella I was eager to get going. We had a long way in front of us and I wanted to put some good miles in to “make the day count.” I was looking forward to the day we would arrive and trying to imagine how that would feel.

As we neared the cathedral though I didn’t want the walk to end. I wished we had had one more day to enjoy together. More time on the path either walking or simply sitting by the side of the road chatting about nothing important.

Physically the idea of rest is well understood. Walking or any kind of exercise is taxing. Training is simply the process of breaking down muscle, and then repairing it to come back stronger over and over. The longer and harder an individual trains, the more he or she will need to properly recover through rest and good nutrition. The cycle is quite simple.

Most injuries occur when we abuse the cycle. When an athlete tries to shortcut the process of recovery and trains too hard for too long. Firas Zahabi speaks about this with Joe Rogan in an episode of his podcast. Pushing yourself to failure on a consistent basis in your workouts or in your life is asking for trouble.

Consider a pilgrim adopting the equivalent mindset. Walking straight through to Santiago would be completely contrary to the idea of pilgrimage. What was meant to be a restful challenge is transformed into a training session. It is a death march.

Sabbath in contrast is an act of faith. It is a God ordained reset, meant to remind us that we are not the autonomous, controlling creatures we can so easily believe ourselves to be.

As much as we need the rest physically, the true benefit of observing the act of Sabbath is spiritual. Like nothing else it has the power to reorient us at a soul level. The benefit is not only for those who ascribe to a certain faith. Whatever you believe about God and creation, all human bodies and minds share the common need to decompress and rest on a regular basis.

All week, namely all our lives we are taught to work. To be productive. To do our best. To contribute and push ourlseves. Whether intentionally or not all this serves to reinforce the natural bent we all have towards arrogance. We begin to believe that without us the world could not continue on.

We live as tyrants over our time. Our schedules and calendars are guarded carefully and we watch over our time with the eyes of a hawk. We grow impatient when we are slowed down or impeded. In traffic. In the slow line at the grocery store. On hold with the utility company. All of these instances reveal what is true of our heats. That we hate to be kept waiting and to a certain degree believe we are entitled to not having to do so.

It’s been said that libraries are the most democratic place in America. The great equalizer, what connects us all and flattens the social hierarchy are the times we have to wait in line.

Consider the airport. Everyone with a ticket is guaranteeed a seat on the plane. Nobody will be left behind provided they are at the gate on time and show up. The only benefit of boarding early is the ability to stow your carryon (minimizing your need to wait for baggage to be delivered) and doing the impossible task of simultaneously looking up and down your nose at those who board after you. Practically it makes no difference whatsoever. But there are always men and women jostling to get on earlier or paying more to do just that. They will most likely also be the first ones to unbuckle and attempt to grab their bags and exit the plane in a hurry.

This is the human condition. Always in a hurry. Always looking forward to tomorrow, to the next season, to the time when life will be easier, better, more comfortable.

The day never comes.

God knows this about us. He wants to repair our hearts and help us enjoy where we are. As long as we are clutching our time with clenched fists we can’t enjoy it freely. It is as if we are clinging to a currency as it loses value.

The strange thing is that “our” time has never been ours to possess. We’ve stolen ownership from God. The sabbath is an offering from God to restore the correct order. We give God back ownership of our days and our agendas. In doing so we are free to enjoy them again. Along with possession he also inherits the stress of accomplishment and productivity. Ownership implies responsibility which he alone can manage perfectly.

Being stuck in traffic is not a delay but an opportunity. To worship, listen to a podcast, pray, enjoy silence, dance and sing karaoke or talk to fellow passengers. Being in a slow line can go from frustration to an opportunity to grow in patience. How else will we ever learn? It humbles us, reminds us that while we are special and unique, so is everyone else. That we are not exempt from the issues of everyday life.

The more intentional we can be in our observation of Sabbath and practicing rest, the better equipped we will be to handle those moments when they surface. Our heart will have developed an inner sanctuary so deep and peaceful that the demands of live and its constant variations will not be able to affect it so easily.

Jesus intentionally withdrew regularly to be by himself and alone with God. He needed rest before making big decisions. Before he began his ministry. Before choosing the twelve disciples. Before going to the cross.

We can not love God with all our heart, soul, and mind while at the same time living with the dillusion that we control our time. There will be a constant tension between what is mine, and what is his. Our hearts will be segmented along the same lines as our lives.

Rejecting rest is rejection of God’s ownership over our time and our lives. In doing so we are also rejecting his loving care because all through scripture we read of how God cares for his creation. He promised Israel a “land flowing with milk and honey.”

He came to the defense of Israel on a regular basis. He covers the shame of Adam and Eve’s rebellion. He provides a substitute for Isaac and rescued the Israelite from Egyptian slavery.

He cares for his people. Jesus observed the sabbath yet still had time to heal and feed multitudes. God’s economy of time always has enough banked to provide for what people need without causing exhaustion.

As Israel wandered in the desert , God provided a double portion of food so they did not have to work to collect it on the sabbath. He provided enough time and food so they could both eat and rest.

Our observation of the sabbath does not trump God’s ability to care for us or give us more than we need.

What it does is open our eyes to just how great a God we serve. It gently gives us the opportunity to remove ourselves from the center of the small world we have created for ourselves and recognize God for who He is.

Sabbath is an invitation, every seven days, to rediscover and remember God. To push back against the fast-paced, me first culture and gain perspective. It is a chance to proactively reject the tendency to declare “my power and the might of my hand has gotten me this wealth” as warned against in Deut. 8:17.

It is a standing invitation, paid for with the price of Jesus’s life, to commune with God and rest in Him. It is up to us to take him up on the offer.