Today, Sunday, is a Day of Rest. There is a lot of wisdom in the religious traditions which set aside times and rhythms of rest. The Bible tells us that God rested on the seventh day, and even allowing for the anthropomorphic nature of the description, we can see that this contains a deep truth. It is clear that God did not rest because of tiredness, but to show that a rhythm of work and pausing is somehow deeply related to our holiness and our wholeness. The Hebrew word for "rested" can sometimes also mean to touch ones soul, drop into one's breath, or can refer to the inner being of the person. When we pause we create the space to drop into and nourish our inner being.
This is increasingly needed in a society where an emphasis on work, productivity and speed has thrown it completely off balance. It focuses on purpose and mistakes that for meaning. Pausing allows us touch the sources of meaning in our lives. Letting busyness go and entering into a space kept empty nourishes us. It is not wasted unproductive time. On the contrary, doing nothing may be the most important work we can do.
