Rest

         And there was evening, and there was morning—the first day. (Genesis 1:5b)

 

          Christmas is over. Oh, there are some who will continue – and more power to them. According to tradition, one can leave Christmas decorations up until Candlemas Day – which is Groundhog’s Day. Others say the Day of the Kings – which is January 6^th. But if you’ve read my blog, you know that I’ve been (getting) ready to end the year since Thanksgiving. I’ve been especially ready to end the year since I got sick. Let’s get over this whole mess and move on! I am soo over 2022 and all this coughing. But we have this stupid week…not a day, but a whole week in which the rest of the world is winding down and gearing up, so by the time 2023 arrives, I’m pretty much over it, too. It took the rest of you so long to get here that I’m bored. And yes, I know, that problem is all mine, not yours.

            But I find myself returning to a point that is an infrequent chorus in my blog: the idea that the day starts in the evening, not at sunrise, and after the day begins, that’s when you rest for the night. When you get up, the day is already about half over but you’re rested.

            So this week between Christmas (the end of the year) and New Years’ Day (the dawn of the new year) is a time of rest, but what does that mean? More often than not, I tend to think of rest as “enforced” inactivity or idleness. And there is that aspect to it. But there’s another part, and that is the building up or saving up of energy, time allowing plans to ruminate. Rest is a time of building personal resources, not in the sense of ordering parts, but in the sense of ordering one’s self.

            And that’s what the next seven days are all about.