I don’t know if the algorithms know more about me than they should, but the suggested news articles and ads on my phone seem to be heavily weighted to sleep and rest these days. Perhaps my phone is concerned about me. I do seem to be checking the time quite a bit around 2-3 AM of late. I have entered that stage of life where my sleep can best be compared to the hotdogs you see at Seven-Eleven, rolling and rolling.
Jesus speaks of rest this week. He urges us to come to Him and find rest. I believe that had he walked the streets of our cities instead of those of the ancient world, he would have spoken more about rest. He used food imagery then, but that was because most people at the time were in a protein deficit. They were likely always a little hungry. Today, I think he would have used more rest imagery.
We have a tortured relationship with our lives of work and rest. Dreamy-eyed lifestyle gurus frequently tell us to achieve “work-life balance.” Goodness, now I have something else to do. I have to achieve balance while getting so much done that I hardly have time to do my laundry or mow my lawn. (Thank goodness my son is home from college and is willing to do it for me.) For the next several weeks Jesus will explicate that rest for us. The preacher may want to spend some time reading and thinking about rest and work and vocation and just what are the burdens we bear. Solomon’s words in Ecclesiastes might make a good read.
I remember my neighbor from many years ago. He is a good Methodist fellow. He worked slavishly at building a business so he and his wife could retire and enjoy that time together. She developed pancreatic cancer and died within a year of his retirement. It was a “vanity, vanity!” moment playing out in real time before my eyes. Pray for wisdom and rest in Jesus.
