Finding times and places for rest

 ‘for I am gentle and humble in heart’ (Matt 11:29)

Matthew 11:25-30 (Year A: Fourth Sunday after Trinity 9^nd July 2017)

At this time of the year, many are heading for the sea or the mountains or just some quiet place to relax and recharge. It could be on foot of a particularly stressful and tiring 12 months for whatever reasons. 

Some, for one reason or another, do not have the means or the time to do so. Or, perhaps, they are more than content to stay where they are.  ‘Holidays’ are a relatively modern phenomenon. From a country retreat for the aristocracy to package holidays for school completers, the world has changed. Even in the space of a few decades what was regarded as exotic or luxurious such as travel by air or travel to ‘the continent’ now seems very ordinary.  Notions of grandeur and the exotic have shifted.

We, all, need to rest sometime. If we live for 90 years then we will have spent approximately 25 years asleep in a bed. Nature attaches a lot of importance to bodily rest!  Though we might ‘work’ 25, 35 or 70 hours a week (I suspect people are given to exaggerate the amount!) we spend a lot of time doing other things from cooking, shopping, travelling, talking, visiting, caring and other things.  Indeed, women, parents and others know all about double-jobbing and long hours and late nights and early mornings.

It is amazing that some of us have any time to read, write or study in the midst of highly pressurised lives spent, always, on the run and in between deadlines and meetings and fixtures.  Add to the mix the modern-day reality of constantly online presence. The last thing at night or first thing in the morning – have a squint at email or WhatsApp or facebook or one of the news channels (and not uncommonly on a little gadget called a smartphone).

Mindfulness

Yet, just as life speeded up and we entered a frenetic way of living more and more people are turning to ‘mindfulness’. I even engage in it myself on a little ‘headspace’ application on my phone as I try to ‘let go’ and ‘stay gently focussed’ sitting on a commuter train into Dublin city every morning.  

There is nothing essentially new in the art and practice of mindfulness. Nor is there anything new in being busy. Our grandparents (or great grand parents) did not have the benefit of washing machines, dishwashers, motor cars or running water. Neither do 100’s of millions of people in various parts of our modern world. Notions of a 35 hour a week, four weeks paid holiday or the institution of the ‘weekend’ (and in more recent times the annual mid-winter ‘Christmas’ break which seems to get longer every year).

We know we need to rest some of the time and, in a way, all of the time. There is a restful way of approaching work and relationships just as there are ways of wasting energy in patterns of thinking and behaviour which are unfruitful. The choice is ours.

Prayer is not a ‘cool’ thing these days. ‘Mindfulness’ or yoga fits the bill.  Anyone (at least in southern Ireland) who might put down ‘prayer’ on his/her CV under the heading of ‘hobbies’ and ‘interests’ would be regarded as ‘one of those religious nut-jobs’. Yet, it is not that long ago that whole family gathered together in kitchens to recite the traditional prayer of the rosary or other family devotions. Sunday was a special day for many people. I remember Dublin in the ‘rare old’ days when Sunday was a very quiet day with major shops, businesses, etc closed and traffic was relatively light.  The further north-east one travelled on the island of Ireland the quieter Sundays got.

Prayerfulness

At its simplest ‘prayer’ is an act of raising mind and heart to God. Or, to put it another way, prayer is the art of calming the mind and heart to become aware of God’s love in our lives.  Making time and space for prayer every day is a major challenge. But, nothing is impossible where there is a will. A time of mindful and prayerful rest is like an oxygen for the body and soul. We know it when we really try it and stick at it: it gives us space.

What stands in the way of reaching a place of rest? It is the weight of our negative thinking and limited outlook? Here is a paradox: it is ‘the wise and the intelligent’ as Jesus describes them who fail to see the bigger picture. Caught in a mind-frame and immersed in the detail of the Law or the literature, they cannot see the obvious in front of them. Today, many pour over the scriptures and learned discourses on matters philosophical, theological and systematic. Yet, the most learned and qualified of scholars may – in the absence of faith – fail to see the point or grasp the ‘meaning of life’. It is simple and it is complex. We unnecessarily complicate our lives and those of others by always trying to fit mysteries into human-crafted boxes. The story goes that the great scholar and mystic, 13^th-century Saint Thomas Aquinas who, when faced with impenetrable mysteries, just laid his head on the tabernacle holding the Blessed Sacrament elements. Abandoning himself in faith to the crucified Jesus he saw a light that even this most learned doctor could not see without recourse to faith.

We need Holy Spirit moments when the Spirit comes down over the material of our head-filled Christianity to move not only our intellects but our hearts and our wills.

Book learning and academic scholarship are excellent means in the human search for meaning and truth and goodness. That Jesus extolled the benefits of a deeper wisdom and insight rather than mere academic discourse and speculation is not to be taken as in any way as justifying a certain anti-intellectualism which holds sway in many cultures – not least in cultures familiar to many readers of this blog.

Line by line ….

In saying ‘Come to me..’ (verse 28) Jesus is offering himself as an immediate and real friend of our soul.   Coming to a place or person or state of mind is the first step. It means going to something and someone greater than our immediate situation where we can be ourselves.

 ‘.. all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens..’

It means coming as just as we are Warts and all, Worries and all and Wants and all (WWW) Specifically, it could mean putting aside special times and places where we can be still for a few moments. The morning can be a good time. Also the evening. Or, in the middle of the day. Or, any other time depending on circumstances.

‘..and I will give you rest..’

The rest spoken of here is an inner freedom together with a certain underlying peace and contentedness even in the midst of great anguish, stress and sadness (..peace is never without a price).

‘Take my yoke upon you..’

Taking on the yoke of discipleship means dying/denying/losing in a certain way in regards to our own plans, opinions, terms of reference and ways of framing the world around us and within.  It means following a call to serve others in ways that we never thought of or expected.

‘and learn from me..’

Learning is about changing. Learning is about being open to experience, example and doing with others. It is not to be confused with teaching which may lead to learning. But not all learning (or teaching) are positive. A lot of learning can be about Unlearning.

‘..for I am gentle and humble in heart..’

The most powerful form of learning is that which is associated with the example of a teacher who is gentle, honest and humble because the One who exemplifies is a humble suffering servant foreshadowed in the Old Testament/Hebrew scriptures.

‘..and you will find rest for your souls.’

Finding rest is the fruit of trust and abandonment to God’s will as it is revealed to each one on the path of life. How do we know when we find rest for our souls? This question is redundant when we find such rest!

‘..for my yoke is easy and my burden is light.’

Really? Following the high road of lowly service is counter-cultural and always was.  In what sense is the yoke of discipleship ‘easy’ or its burden ‘light’? It is the sense that by putting aside our plans and our wishes we find new plans and new wishes that release new depths and expressions of human creativity that we never imagined or dreamed of. The problem, too often, is that our world view and ‘wish-fors’ are small world shadows.

Life is too short to drink bad wine and coming to Jesus and taking his yoke is much too attractive to turn down. Be reckless. Be open to restfulness you never dreamt of.