MARK 6:30-34
SOME DAY THERE WON'T BE
ANY PEOPLE AROUND WHO GREW UP IN THE DAYS BEFORE VATICAN II, WHEN WE
HAD CLEAR RULES AND KNEW JUST WHAT WE HAD TO DO TO GET TO HEAVEN AND
STAY OUT OF HELL. THERE WERE THESE TEN COMMANDMENTS, YOU SEE. WE
WERE TAUGHT ABOUT HOW CERTAIN BEHAVIORS AND EVEN THOUGHTS BROKE THEM.
IT WASN'T HARD NOT TO HAVE STRANGE GODS; I'M NOT SURE I KNEW WHAT
THEY WERE ANYWAY. I DIDN'T MAKE GRAVEN IMAGES, LET ALONE BOW DOWN
BEFORE THEM. WE WERE TAUGHT THAT SWEARING AND CURSING WERE SORT OF
VIOLATIONS OF THE COMMANDMENT NOT TO TAKE THE NAME OF THE LORD IN
VAIN, BUT AS LONG AS WE DIDN'T ACTUALLY BLASPHEME, THESE WERE MOSTLY
VENIAL SINS. AND THEN THERE IS THAT THIRD COMMANDMENT: REMEMBER TO
KEEP HOLY THE SABBATH DAY. SIX DAYS THOU SHALL LABOR AND WORK, AND
ON THE SEVENTH DAY YOU SHALL NOT WORK, NOR SHALL YOUR SON, OR
DAUGHTER, OR MANSERVANT OR MAIDSERVANT...THE COMMANDMENT GOES ON TO
GIVE THE REASON: GOD CREATED THE UNIVERSE IN SIX DAYS, AND RESTED ON
THE SEVENTH.
WHEN YOU READ THE ACTUAL
COMMANDMENT, AND NOT OUR SHORTENED VERSION OF IT, “REMEMBER TO KEEP
HOLY THE LORD'S DAY,” IT SEEMS PRETTY SERIOUS. BUT THE GOOD
SISTERS WHO TAUGHT ME BACK IN THOSE DAYS FIRST OF ALL EXPLAINED WHY
WE REST ON SUNDAY INSTEAD OF THE “SEVENTH” DAY, AND THEN
EMPHASIZED THAT THE REAL ISSUE HERE WAS SERVILE WORK. SERVILE WORK
ALWAYS SOUNDED A LITTLE SLEAZY, BUT BASICALLY IT MEANT THINGS LIKE
MOWING THE LAWN, PAINTING THE HOUSE, WEEDING THE GARDEN – I COULD
LIVE WITH THAT. IT DID NOT MEAN, UNFORTUNATELY, DOING MY HOMEWORK OR
MAKING MY BED IN THE MORNING; AND IT CERTAINLY DIDN'T MEAN YOU
COULDN'T COOK, BECAUSE SUNDAYS MY MOTHER USUALLY COOKED UP A STORM.
IT WAS COMMONLY HELD IN MY HOUSE THAT YOU COULD DO UP TO AN HOUR'S
WORTH OF PHYSICAL WORK BEFORE YOU PASSED INTO THE DREAD REALM OF
MORTAL SIN.
THINK OF IT. GOD GAVE US
TEN RULES, AND ONE OF THEM IS THE COMMAND TO REST, TO DO NO WORK AT
ALL, ABOUT 15% OF THE TIME WE HAVE ON THIS EARTH.
I'M NOT SURE OUR
UNDERSTANDING OF THIS COMMANDMENT IS ANY BETTER TODAY THAN BEFORE.
IN FACT, I THINK IT 'S WORSE. THOSE OF US CHRISTIANS WHO WORSHIP FOR
A PERIOD EVERY SUNDAY STEP OUT OF OUR CHURCHES INTO A WORLD THAT
ISN'T VERY DIFFERENT FROM SATURDAY OR MONDAY. WE CAN STILL BUY
STUFF, EVEN BEER AND WINE; WE ARE SO BUSY DURING THE WEEK THAT WE DO
THOSE THINGS ON THE WEEKEND LIKE MOWING THE LAWN AND PAINTING THE
WOODWORK, AND TELL OURSELVES THAT IT IS “EXERCISE” OR
“RECREATION”. AND HOW MANY OF US USE SUNDAYS TO GET A JUMP ON
THE WEEK AHEAD – WE SHOP, WE STUDY, WE WRITE, WE MAKE LISTS – SO
THAT WHEN MONDAY COMES, WE ARE GOING FULL SPEED AHEAD.
THE APOSTLES CAME BACK
FROM THEIR FIRST MISSION ALL EXCITED; THEY HAD DRIVEN OUT DEMONS,
CURED THE SICK; ILLITERATE FISHERMEN WORKING MIRACLES! AND THEY HAD
BEEN ON FIRE AS THEY PREACHED THE MESSAGE THEY HAD HEARD FROM JESUS.
WORDS SEEMED TO FORM EFFORTLESSLY, AND PEOPLE LISTENED! I'M SURE
THAT IF JESUS HAD SAID, “GET OUT THERE AND DO MORE OF THAT!” THEY
WOULD HAVE DONE SO. DOING SOMETHING YOU REALLY LIKE TO DO IS
ADDICTING. BUT JESUS SURPRISES THEM JUST AS GOD SURPRISED THE PEOPLE
WHO HAD BEEN SLAVES IN EGYPT. COME AWAY AND REST, HE SAY TO THEM.
ON THE SEVENTH DAY YOU SHALL DO NO WORK, GOD TELLS THE HEBREW SLAVES.
THERE SHOULD BE A RHYTHM
IN OUR CHRISTIAN LIFE. SAINT BENEDICT RECOGNIZED THIS WHEN HE
FOUNDED HIS ORDER. YOU DID NOT BECOME A MONK TO PRAY, OR TO STUDY,
OR PERFORM PENANCES, OR TO SING IN THE CHOIR. WHEN YOU ENTERED HIS
FORM OF MONASTIC LIFE, YOU ENTERED A LIFE OF BALANCE. THE BELL WOULD
RING, AND YOU WOULD STOP WHAT YOU WERE DOING AND MOVE ON TO THE NEXT
ACTIVITY. NO EXCEPTIONS. PRAYER, WORK, STUDY, EAT, RELAX, SING,
SLEEP – AND SO IT WENT, DAY AFTER DAY, SEASON AFTER SEASON.
AND THAT SHOULD BE THE
WAY WE LIVE AS WELL.
THERE ARE TWO MAJOR
DANGERS TO THE CHRISTIAN WAY OF LIFE. ONE IS THE TEMPTATION TO BE
PRODUCTIVE. AFTER ALL, WE HAVE VERY LITTLE TIME ON THIS EARTH, ABOUT
A THIRD OF IT SPENT SLEEPING. AS WE GET OLDER, WE SENSE THIS
LIMITATION, AND FEEL GUILTY IF WE AREN'T GENERATING BILLABLE HOURS,
OR DOING SOMETHING WHERE YOU CAN SEE A RESULT. BEING RETIRED AFTER A
LIFETIME OF WORKING AT LEAST SIX DAYS A WEEK IS VERY DISTURBING, I
CAN TELL YOU FROM PERSONAL EXPERIENCE.
THE OTHER DANGER IS TO
FAIL TO PLAN. EVEN WITH THE BEST INTENTIONS, UNLESS WE PLAN FOR REST
AND PRAYER AND RECREATION AND WORK, WE WILL NOT BE IN BALANCE. AN
UNCLE OF MINE SAID THAT AT THE BEGINNING OF THE MONTH, HE AND MY AUNT
SET ASIDE SOME MONEY IN A SAVINGS ACCOUNT. THAT WAS THE FIRST THING
THEY DID. IN THE DEPRESSION YEARS, IT MAY HAVE BEEN A DOLLAR.
LATER, WHEN THINGS WERE GOING WELL, IT WAS MORE. AND WHEN THEY
RETIRED, THEY HAD MORE THAN ENOUGH. BUT THEY FOLLOWED A PLAN. WE
NEED TO PLAN AS WELL, PUTTING THOSE THINGS THAT SEEM LEAST IMPORTANT
ON OUR PRIORITY LIST – TO REST, TO RECREATE, NOT ALL THE TIME, BUT
FOR A WHILE; AND TO REALLY DO THESE THINGS, NOT USE THE TIME TO GET A
JUMP ON THE WEEK, OR TO TACKLE THAT PROJECT I'VE BEEN PUTTING OFF
BECAUSE I'VE BEEN TOO BUSY AT OTHER THINGS.
JESUS TELLS HIS APOSTLES
TO COME AWAY – GET OUT OF YOUR ROUTINE; TO A DESERTED PLACE –
LEAVE BEHIND THOSE THINGS THAT DISTRACT YOU ALL THE TIME – AND REST
– REALLY REST, WHICH DOESN'T MEAN LYING ON YOUR BACK STARING AT THE
STARS, BUT DOING SOMETHING YOU LOVE SO THAT YOU ARE LIVING IN THE
MOMENT, NOT DISTURBED BY THE FUTURE OR THE PAST. AND DO THIS FOR A
WHILE, NOT FOREVER. AND IT GOES WITHOUT SAYING THAT JESUS SHOULD BE
THERE WITH YOU AS HE WAS WITH THE APOSTLES, EVEN AS THEY RESTED.
THERE'S A STORY ABOUT TWO
LUMBERJACKS WHO HAD A CONTEST TO SEE WHO COULD CHOP THE MOST WOOD.
ONE WOULD CHOP FOR A WHILE, THEN SIT DOWN AND REST, THE OTHER DID
NON-STOP CHOPPING. AT THE END OF THE DAY, THE SECOND WAS EXHAUSTED,
AND LEARNED TO HIS SURPRISE THAT THE FIRST, WHO WAS RESTED, HAD
ACTUALLY WON THE CONTEST. “HOW COULD THIS BE?” HE SAID. “YOU
TOOK A REST EVERY HALF HOUR.” “DID YOU SEE WHAT I DID WHEN I
RESTED?” REPLIED THE OTHER. “I WAS SHARPENING MY AXE.”
REST IS AN ESSENTIAL PART
OF THE CHRISTIAN LIFE. ARE YOU GETTING ENOUGH?
