We don’t go passing round the wafers, if that’s what you are thinking. But in terms of a Sabbath, as a day of rest, our main shot at resting does seem to coincide with Saturday mornings. Time to sit with Dan and chat, drink a coffee, unpack the week, hold out a little longer, drink another coffee…
For those with kids, where days of the week start at pretty much the same time every day, I don’t mind if you feel you need to turn away. It is a bit indulgent still to have this space. And it’s not so much about not doing as the chance to talk, and say where our thoughts and feelings have been going over the previous few days.
Resting is all about recharging, if you get a shot at it. Similar to a post about learning to relax, that I wrote a month or two back, it’s about things that are consistently good in enabling you to unwind, and feel better afterwards. Or be ready to tackle a bit of life again.
Part of the treat, for me at least, is also having some time where there’s nothing written against it, in a real or mental diary. I need some headspace to explore, to pick things up and put them down again. These things may not form part of a ‘to do’ list, but that’s their very appeal.
Was remembering about The Idler – can’t quite tell whether it’s now a book, or a blog, or multiples of all of that. http://idler.co.uk/ – see what you make of it. But part of what they are talking about is giving yourself time to think, rather than just doing.
For someone like me, who can be fairly said to be a Protestant with a work ethic, it’s invaluable to be reminded to find this space. I enjoy doing, of various kinds, and I’d never claim we can get through life without doing, but I am certainly thinking more and more that just being is a pretty good pursuit.
When we think back to treasured memories, holidays, that kind of thing, often what we’re remembering is the space to be; to idle; not just to let our mind work out what is really going on, but to allow our heart to be part of that too.
Too much gobbledy-gook? Well, I’m good at that too. But along that path, sooner or later, some wisdom comes out, something to help me be happy in my own skin and at peace with God. I’ll raise a mug of coffee to that.