There is a lot of talk today about “un-hurrying” and of “resting.” The general sentiment seems to be that we do not know how to rest in society today. I think that, generally, this is true. We are increasingly anxious, inundated, exhausted, and fatigued. And that is not how God meant for things to be. That is also not how he has called us, Christians, to live. I do have an increasing concern, however, that much of what is offered as alternatives to our over-labored condition is actually not rest —actually makes the problem worse. Advent gives us a good time to re-orient ourselves towards biblical rest, and not merely to the bundle of sabbath-less practices on offer in consumer culture which, while masquerading as rest, only make our restlessness worse. As we continue to journey through Advent I’d like to offer a couple of reflections on ways in which, this season, we can enter more fully into God’s rest.
Avoid bingeing. Bingeing is not restful, it is the opposite. There is a disordering of festal impulse within it. Think about your bingeing experiences (TV shows, doom-scrolling, candy, etc.) do they give you rest? I doubt it. We often emerge from these with that wiped-out feeling, a little bit queasy, and the sense of needing to catch-up. During advent don’t binge. Practice saying, “that’s enough, I am content, thanks be to God.”
Let nighttime be truly nighttime. So much energy is spent in modernity with fighting the evening. Screens, city lights, night-lights, glaring LEDs keep us in an everlasting daytime until, wearied with the day we won’t let end, we collapse. Find candles, light lamps, sit around fires, turn-on Christmas lights and turn-off as many other kinds of light as possible. Look at the stars, sit by a reading light in a merry gloom of a quiet house, let darkness be darkness, make the end of each of these days be like a Tenebrae service. Boycott the tyranny of 24/7. Turn-of your phone as you are able… do not merely put it on silent. God gives us a small sabbath each day called “night.” As you are able this advent, keep that little sabbath.
Enjoy the food you eat. Stop rushing your meals, if only for Advent. Resist letting any food be “fast.” Slow even your vitamin-taking down: take the pills in your hand, raise them above your head, make the sign of the cross, and say “Thank you Lord for these, my I be nourished by them. Amen.” Resist, also, private eating: the snack in the car, the quick smoothie after the hustled shower chugged alone while you rush to your next meeting, the consumption of the private beer at the end of the day. Don’t just pause to enjoy, find ways —as able— to enjoy with… or, better yet, find ways to share “Hey, I just finished my workout and I need a protein shake, can I get one for you too?” Or, “Hey, can I pay for your latte?” Or “Hey I brought extra with me, do you want to have lunch together?”
Consider how you use your leisure time. Anxiety and exhaustion, contrary to popular opinion, is rarely the result of over-working. It is more often the result of wasted and ill-spent leisure time. Forget all that pop stuff about “me-time” and “self-care” those are not good compasses. Instead think about the kinds of things when you take time off from labor that are going to deepen your soul. Sitting and journaling, sitting and doing nothing but watching the world go by, walking, reading good books, prayer and bible study, the kinds of sports and exercise that fits under the category of “recreation” (no mirrors, no memberships, no contracts), working in the garden (but not laboring on your farm) —these are the kinds of things which cause us to deepen and grow as we rest. Leisure time properly spent finds me able to engage with my labor more worshipfully.
Just a few thoughts from my recent reading. God is himself Sabbath, as Raymond Lull once suggested. Advent, with all of its waiting, and hoping, and refusing to rush-into, and not-letting-go-of-promises, calls us to be a people who enter into the Rest of the Lord of the Sabbath.
Merry resting!