Yesterday, I didn’t seek out to be Biblical, it just turned out that way. You see, I actually made a Sunday a day of rest, as God intended.
I lounged, slept, dozed, slept some more, napped, snoozed and occasionally rolled over to sleep some more. In between, I did nothing substantial, outside of a bite to eat, a sip of water and a visit to the restroom.
And it was so refreshing. In the old days, I would have been yelled at for doing this. But in my new environment, it’s an acceptable pastime as my girlfriend and I both dabble in it on occasion.
I didn’t really need the rest, or so I thought. I wasn’t physically in need of it, at least. But what I found out this morning was that I needed it for another reason. I needed to mentally rest, something we don’t do often enough.
As with everyone, stuff just keeps piling up now and again. Little stuff, unattended to, becomes big stuff eventually. And soon you have a lot of stuff on your mind. And it needs attending to. There’s no way around it because eventually it will get in the way… in a big way!
And so that’s what I did. I let my mind get some rest. And as I did, it continued to files things away in the center of my head, where all the mental file cabinets reside. This is how I see it. A big empty center in my head surrounded by perhaps 60 four-drawer file cabinets. Some of the drawers of these cabinets are hanging open, some have files pulled from them, I know other files are permanently misfiled or lost entirely, and some are just strewn about the floor. There are, of course, drawers that are locked. I either can’t or don’t want to access them.
It was time to do some filing. It was long overdue. And that required rest. Watching TV, reading a book or what have you keeps the mind occupied, so it can’t do any meaningful work in the filing department. Perhaps it works for some people. But I need to have zero input coming in to do some real organization in my head.
Today, the files are in much better shape. Some of it was filed away. Other things were thrown in the garbage can (I don’t shred immediately – may need a thought or memory back). Others were put back into the “To File” bin for another day. All of the most important things were attended to, thankfully.
I won’t need another day of rest for a while. But when it comes, I will know that it is just as important as any other activity I partake in. It clears my mind, rids me of useless information and makes room for new memories and thoughts to carry me forward in life. That is the true purpose of my days of rest.
I think of it as doing a little spring-cleaning. Perhaps we should all do that more often in our lives.
‘Til again,
— Robb