In chapter six of Mark's Gospel Jesus invites the disciples and us, "Come away by yourselves to a deserted place and rest a while." Most of us have forgotten how to rest. We don't value rest. We may even think that we're being lazy, just sitting still doing nothing.
The Lord God rested after six days of creation. That wasn't just to recoup his energy so he'd be ready to create another universe in the next workweek. It was to show us that relaxing is valuable. Rest itself is holy. Rest is so important that God makes it one of the ten commandments. Keep holy the Sabbath. That used to be a commandment that people welcomed.
But gradually Sunday came to feel like restriction rather than freedom. Instead of freedom from having to work, it became not being allowed to work. I remember my grandmother's wondering whether she was allowed to crochet on Sunday.
Rest is certainly good for our emotional and physical health, but it is much more than that. It is a way of being like God. Rest in itself is holy.
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