There are many obstacles to rest, but one I haven't mentioned yet has to do with our use of leisure. It is in our fumbled up relationship with rest and leisure that leaves us confused, easily distracted, and unable to form a healthy use of rest in our lives. Leisure is not a bad thing. Distraction is not necessarily a bad thing in our lives either. It all has to do with our relationship and use of these two things. We need a strong understanding of the roles they play in our lives. When these things are mixed up without definition or priority, it's easy to slip beyond leisure into lazy. Our fear of laziness or being perceived as lazy then becomes another thing in the way of developing healthy rest in our lives.
Being lazy really doesn't feel good. We think it does, at first. That's most likely because we haven't allowed ourselves proper rest throughout the day...week...month... and so then, in that case, yes! Being lazy feels great! But at a certain point, laziness pulls us away from purpose and direction. Laziness becomes the antithesis to sabbath.
Living with healthy boundaries and understanding of sabbath provides a pace and rhythm that is life giving. This rhythm returns us again and again to our center, reorienting us to our purpose and mission. When a community joins in this commitment to sabbath, they are also providing opportunity for themselves to remain connected to Christ's mission in the world, becoming the hands and feet, the body of Christ bearing this mission in the world.
Take some time returning to your definitions of sabbath, distraction, leisure, and laziness. What can you do to enforce healthy relationships with these aspects of our lives? What do you need to shift in order to keep them prioritized in a healthy, life-giving way?
How do you fight laziness? How has laziness become an obstacle to accepting the gift of sabbath in your life?
How does sabbath reorient you to purpose and mission?
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