Restoring Through Intentional Rest
I live with a chronic disease. Some days are spectacular. Other days not so much. On any given morning I take several pills and have to monitor things like food, water intake, exercise and rest. If the weather is out of sorts, so am I. If any of the things I monitor are out of sorts, so am I.
When I was first diagnosed with this autoimmune disease four years ago, my world fell apart. My mind jumped ahead to “worst case scenarios” and for awhile I was paralyzed by “what ifs.”
The past two years have been good ones. There was a cold in fall 2015 that about kicked my backside. My autoimmune system simply could not combat a cold and the disease. It was well into 2016 before my body recovered, but for the most part I am well. My quarterly blood tests suggest my liver is processing my medicine well and there has been no progression of joint damage. There is the issue of a slightly low WBC count which my doctor is monitoring, but otherwise my body is well… unless I do not monitor the types of food I consume, my water intake, exercise and the times during the day I rest.
The most difficult of these things to be intentional about is rest. My life is lived wide open, and moving from one facet of it to another is as rote as breathing. As a pastor I am dependent on other people to determine my schedule, and often rest is not a priority. I remember being able to function for days under high stress and back to back meetings, so I push myself, thinking I must be lazy. Being intentional about rest is my new reality… and I epically fail on most days.
Truth is – it should not take a chronic illness to remind us of the benefits of rest. Rest should not be seem as a deficiency but rather a strength. Intentionally providing opportunities for our bodies to engage in daily rest is as essential as drinking enough water. Night time sleep does not provide enough rest to handle our 2017 world. We have one body, one finite, limited-edition body and one shot to allow it to work at its optimal. Rest allows for healing at the cellular level and at the spiritual level.
The Jewish Rabbi Jesus speaks of rest in the gospel section of the Christian sacred text. In chapter fifteen of the book of John, Jesus discusses rest, only he uses the word abide. Using vine imagery Jesus establishes that to abide in something (for him it was to abide in God) is to rest intentionally. Abiding is being . . . not doing. It is tarrying in a restorative moment and allowing for healing to occur. Jesus himself modeled times of rest. Rest is essential to life.
Which means we, and that means me (especially as a pastor), must make rest a priority. I must care enough about who I am to balance my day. If my work depends on others, I need to structure my day to provide moments of rest. It means I make better use of the time I control to allow for moments of intentional rest. It means I understand, in the core of my being, that rest does not make life vibrant, it makes life possible.
As we wander through the semester, bombarded with deadlines and demands, may we all discern a way to incorporate intentional rest into our day. A walk around the office. A stroll through the Dell. A few stretches behind the desk. Five minutes with your feet up. Two minutes of relaxation behind a closed door. Not working through lunch. Whatever works for you, whatever restores you, whatever makes re-creation possible, whatever inspires creativity make it an intentional part of your 2017. Your life depends on it.
Gotta go. It’s rest time.
Katrina