Take it easy

Maxwell Ryan looks at a forgotten idea

T

here has always been a suspicion in the minds of hard-working people that leisure is related to laziness, if not as brother then as first cousin. Such an outlook springs quite naturally from what used to be known as the “Protestant work ethic” - a phrase coined by sociologist Max Weber to describe the workaholic approach to life of people who put success first. Even success-oriented people, though, need leisure.

In our technologically advanced countries, where machines and robots now do the work of many people, and workers are getting paid more for doing less, the combination of increased income and shorter work week is creating problems such as boredom and the feeling that life has no real challenge. There is the tragedy of people with inner emptiness searching for something new to fill the increasingly empty weekends.

God is in favour of leisure and, therefore, has a marvelous plan that is specifically designed for times when work does not claim our attention. This plan is known in the Bible as a Sabbath, which simply means “rest”. However, rest does not imply an unfocused life, or simply lying around with the imaginative powers busily engaged in forbidden pursuits.

The Sabbath means stopping from normal working duties, one day in seven, in order to give glory to God, to allow Him rightful place in the scheme of things. This time of rest was so important in biblical times that it was enforced by stern measures, because God knew that the human race, left to itself and under the tutelage of Satan, would become enamored with vain and fruitless pursuits that would destroy rather than recreate.

God is the focus of all true leisure because He is the source of all joy and happiness. To be sure, the company of loved ones, the thought of a good meal, or the anticipation of a book bring their own happiness, but God is the Father of all these lesser joys.

When we focus on Him, we lose nothing except our anxiety and our frantic need to search for new thrills. We gain, however, serenity and poise, and discover true leisure, which is freedom from oneself and one’s own concerns; a release from the self-centredness that often wears a pious mask.

Writer: Lieut.-Colonel Maxwell Ryan is a former Editor in Chief in Canada and the UK. In retirement he is a part-time chaplain in a Salvation Army hospital in Winnipeg, Canada and a copy editor of theRubicon.

3 Comments to Take it easy

1. Thanks for reminding us of this important biblical concept. I’ve made a response in my blog.
Stuart Watson on March 26th, 2007

2. We’ve posted an earlier article on the Sabbath in theRubicon by Bruce Power on September 6, 2006.
Geoff Ryan on March 27th, 2007

3. Dear Max -

   What is your thesis of “Sabbath Rest” as a continual condition (state)of the heart.
   Of “being still”, an attitude through faith rested in the hope and promises of our Lord?
Greg on March 29th, 2007

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