Rest and Reflection and Recreation this Labor Day Weekend

Oregon was the first state to recognize it in 1887. It became a federal holiday in 1894. Always the first Monday in September, Labor Day recognizes the contributions and achievements of American workers.

Labor Day Parade, Jackson Michigan

It means something different today than it did one hundred and twenty years ago. Today most consider Labor Day weekend the end of summer, the start of football season, an opportunity to get a few things done around the house, or a long weekend. The aroma of grilled hamburgers and hot dogs is more prevalent on Labor Day than any other Monday of the year. Parks are filled with people. The kids enjoy a day off from school. 

The English word labor is from the Latin word laborare. It means manual or physical work. To toil, struggle, have difficulty. We can understand why a woman having a baby is called labor. We can also understand why coal miners and steel workers and railroad builders used to march in parades in early September. The industrialization and modernization of America happened because of their sweat. 

Jesus was aware of labor. Physical, emotional, relational, and spiritual labor. He knew life wasn’t easy. It wasn’t easy for the people he related to in the Middle East twenty centuries ago and life remains a challenge for people today. We are tired, stressed out, hurting, over-committed, under-resourced, facing difficulties, lonely, and struggling. Many of us are like this some of the time and some of us are like this much of the time.

Balance and Harmony

Jesus makes an invitation us: Come to me. All of you who labor and carry heavy burdens. If you are tired or burned out, come to me. And I will give you rest. (Matthew 11:28) 

The Greek word Jesus uses is ἀναπαύσω which is a little different than our word rest. Rest to us might be laying on a couch in front of a television or dreaming of being in a cabin in mountains or by a lake. Webster even describes rest as “freedom from labor.” Jesus didn’t see rest as inactivity, rather he uses ἀναπαύσω which implies balance, especially in life’s essential areas of imagination, physical wellness, mental wholeness, relational harmony, and spiritual solidarity with God. Jesus is not promising us life is going to be perfect, but he is promising us his presence and his participation in our lives. 

This Labor Day weekend, take Jesus up on his offer. Slow down a bit. Realize life isn’t about what we do, but who we are. Go to him. Pray. Give him some of your hurts and some of your burdens. Read a few chapters of one of the Gospels. Play. Serve a stranger. Journey with Jesus and accept his gifts of balance, harmony, rest, and grace. 

Happy Labor Day, 

Craig

Getting Some Rest This Labor Day Weekend

Oregon was the first state to recognize it in 1887. It became a federal holiday in 1894. Always the first Monday in September, Labor Day recognizes the contributions and achievements of American workers.

Labor Day Parade, New York City

It means something different today than it did one hundred and twenty years ago. Today most consider Labor Day weekend the end of summer, the start of football season, an opportunity to get a few things done around the house, or a long weekend. The aroma of grilled hamburgers and hot dogs is more prevalent on Labor Day than any other Monday of the year. Parks are filled with people. The kids enjoy a day off from school. 

The English word labor is from the Latin word laborare. It means manual or physical work. To toil, struggle, have difficulty. We can understand why a woman having a baby is called labor. We can also understand why coal miners and steel workers and railroad builders used to march in parades in early September. The industrialization and modernization of America happened because of their sweat. 

Jesus was aware of labor. Physical, emotional, relational, and spiritual labor. He knew life wasn’t easy. It wasn’t easy for the people he related to in the Middle East twenty centuries ago and life remains a challenge for people today. We are tired, stressed out, hurting, over-committed, under-resourced, facing difficulties, lonely, and struggling. Many of us are like this some of the time and some of us are like this much of the time. 

Jesus makes an invitation us: Come to me. All of you who labor and carry heavy burdens. If you are tired or burned out, come to me. And I will give you rest. (Matthew 11:28)

Balance and Harmony

The Greek word Jesus uses is ἀναπαύσω which is a little different than our word rest. Rest to us might be laying on a couch in front of a television or dreaming of being in a cabin in mountains or by a lake. Webster even describes rest as “freedom from labor.” Jesus didn’t see rest as inactivity, rather he uses ἀναπαύσω which implies balance, especially in life’s essential areas of imagination, physical wellness, mental wholeness, relational harmony, and spiritual solidarity with God. Jesus is not promising us life is going to be perfect, but he is promising us his presence and his participation in our lives. 

This Labor Day weekend, take Jesus up on his offer. Slow down a bit. Realize life isn’t about what we do, but who we are. Go to him. Pray. Give him some of your hurts and some of your burdens. Read a few chapters of one of the Gospels. Journey with Jesus and accept his gifts of balance, harmony, rest, and grace. 

Happy Labor Day, 

Craig

Moon

I wasn’t sleepy. Amber, Benjamin, and David were. It was a busy Monday and I didn’t have an opportunity to run during the day. So at ten o’clock I laced up my road shoes and went for a run.

Francis of Assisi wrote: “All the darkness in the world cannot extinguish the light of a single candle.” The sun had set, but a brilliant full moon took care of the darkness. The moon doesn’t shine. It reflects the light of the sun. The darkness didn’t stand a chance. 

As I ran up the 173rd Street hill to start the run, I looked at the houses. Most of the people had the same idea as my family—sleep. A few lights were still on, but they were the dim type of lights. I know some of the neighbors. Others I don’t yet and maybe never will. But I do know the world we all live in. And this world can be pretty dark sometimes. But light—no matter how feeble, frail, or faint—always wins. It’s no wonder the Son tells us to reflect His light to the world.

I make it to the top of the hill. Four minutes into the run, I’m already sweating. The night is as warm and damp as it is quiet. I’m not alone. Somebody is near. I can’t see them nor can I hear them. I can only smell the smoke from their cigarette. It travels through the nighttime air much more efficiently than I made it up the hill. Chances are I don’t know the other person. Maybe I have seen them at the pool. Or maybe they go to The Water’s Edge. The other person and I seek our solitude and sanity in different ways. I hope they got to see the moon.

No music tonight. It wasn’t that kind of run. I prayed. I stopped and took a few pictures of the moon. I stopped for water. Up another big hill. I start breathing heavily and realize this hill is pretty insignificant. A mom is fighting cancer. A soldier is thousands of miles away from his family in a foreign land. A person is trying to quit smoking and just can’t quite do it. More prayer: For the church, for the people at my house sleeping, for the person walking their dog down the hill. And then I thought about a book I was reading last night from Augustine of Hippo and the phrases that couldn’t escape me: 

“Because God has made us for Himself, our hearts are restless until they rest in Him” and “There is no saint without a past, no sinner without a future.” Not bad for 1,600 years ago. 

An hour later I am a sweaty mess. I take the garden hose and cool-down my overheated body. I dry-off, go kiss the people and the dog who are sleeping, and am thankful that even though I wasn’t really tired, this sinner with a future found my rest in Him. 

The best is yet to come… 

Craig

The Waterfall

I needed to get away. We all have those days. I left my cell phone in my car. Email would have to wait for another day. So would this column, this week’s sermon, advance planning, pastoral care, leadership, and administration. 

Go away by yourself to a desolate place and rest a while. –Mark 6:31 

I laced up some old trail running shoes. The leftover mud on the shoes was a few months old. Long shorts and an old t-shirt were the clothes for the morning. I filled my water bottle mostly with ice and a little water. The ice would melt soon enough. I got in my dirty black car and drove to the park. A sports radio show was on. I turned it off. Somehow two guys overanalyzing the hows and whys of Nebraska’s quarterback throwing too many interceptions just didn’t really matter to me. 

It was a beautiful morning. The morning sun reflecting off the yellow and red leaves were God’s canvas. Monet and Van Gogh and Audubon on their best day never came close to this. The fallen leaves covered the crusty dirt trail. They also covered the tree roots and rocks. I shared the forest with a few deer and a group of wild turkeys. They were seeking food for their stomachs. I was seeking food for my soul.

Photo by Tim Wright
http://www.redbubble.com/people/bobst1080

After about 90 minutes of running the ice was melted and the water in the bottle was gone. A few scrapes existed on my right wrist and right knee from an encounter with a tree root. The shirt was sweaty in the upper back. I opened the door of the dirty car, removed my Bible and journal, and walked down a steep hill to a bench overlooking a small waterfall. 

I opened the Bible. I read Psalm 42. No particular reason. It is just where I landed. I wrote part of the text in my own words: 

When I am sad or stressed or tired or tense, I remember you. 

The depths of my heart call to depths of your heart. 

The waterfall makes smooth the jagged rock.

Each day God showers His love on my imperfect heart and changes it. 

There is something about a waterfall. It overcomes obstacles with brawn and beauty. It is simultaneously peaceful and powerful. It is as delightful as it is determined. It takes a coarse rock and over time makes it as smooth as silk. Maybe the ordinary waterfall is so exceptional because it is like God: peaceful, powerful, beautiful, different, and transforming. 

The sight and then the sound of the waterfall faded in the distance. I walked up the hill to the dirty black car. And I remembered God’s words to Moses, “My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.” –Exodus 33:14 

The best is yet to come… 

Craig