In the beginning, there was a lot of work to do. That would have been about the beginning of this semester… Then, just when you thought you had it all figured out, there became more work to do. And then, there was even more work…and then you realized, oh yes…this is college.
Now college is an interesting place. You are overworked, you have too many things on your plate, you’ve been given absurd amounts of responsibilities in your classes, you’ve got a group with a campus minister who is trying to get you to take on leadership roles, there are rehearsals and practice times, there are projects, there are more classes to register for, I’ve got reading to do, there’s this test. Yep…I’ve heard it all. And it never sways me from unbelievable important rule. Taking a break.
It also reminds me of something else that we’re easily tricked into. You know how they say, if I just can get this stuff done, if I just do this work now, it’ll be slower later. It’ll be better at Christmas, in May, in a year or so, when I’m out of here… When in the real world. If I’ve learned anything in 9 years of being on a college campus, being married, having a full time job, experiencing two graduate degrees, and having some life experience, it’s that the real world is right here and right now and that it’s not going to get any better. I mean, I hear retirement is nice, but the reality is, the schedule you make now, it’s the schedule for the rest of your life. Sure, you won’t have tests and papers, but some of you are going to have kids, spouses, and all of you will have a job or two that will give you lots of work with tons of responsibility and if all you do is keep working you’ll get to some promised land. Nope, that didn’t work for me and it won’t work for you.
Take a break. Proclaim a Sabbath.!
Nothing New, but something to consider
Now Proclaiming a Sabbath is nothing new. You’ve heard it said before. But let’s be honest. How many people real practice it. Few, if any. It’s kind of like being a Christian and reading the bible. Influencing of Billions, read by hundreds. But there’s something to be said about the Biblical understanding of Sabbath, and it doesn’t necessarily start in the Bible.
Psychological studies have shown over the past 10 years that students who are more stressed developed higher levels and depression and other mental health issues. The stress is often related to being overworked and having too much to do. But when people take a little time for themselves, engaging in something that gives them joy and removes them from the stimulates of stress, they tend to avoid mental health crises and tend to achieve better in all aspects of their lives. Imagine if you could do something that changed your performance in every piece of your life. From your relationships to your studies to your overall enjoyment of your life. One thing. Would you do it? You would think so, but the research continues to show that millions of Americans don’t take a break from there things, either because they say they don’t have time or because they have too much already going on.
College students, you’re in the same boat. The amount of time you spend with your homework is probably about the same amount of time you would have to put into having a child. And the amount of money for that case, especially if you go to school for 18 years (I’m moving toward that number so I’ll let you know when I reach it). But how am I supposed to take a break you might ask?
The Wilderness
I always find the most powerful witness in the Bible for Sabbath to be in Exodus. At the beginning, when God gives out the commandments, he doesn’t say now go with haste to the promised land, and obviously that doesn’t work out anyway because they spend 40 years trudging through the desert. Instead, they are commanded to take a day off. Like, out here in the wilderness, while we are trying to get somewhere. Can’t we just take a day off when we get there, and get ourselves out of this hot, sticky, infested and dangerous place. I don’t think so. You’re going to take a day off and take a breath, realize the majesty around you, give up a day in remembrance and honor of me. And then you will restore yourselves for the journey. And that’s exactly what they did. Every Sabbath was a celebration of where they had been and where they were going. But if they had not taken that time, they wouldn’t have gotten anywhere..truly.
You are are incredibly busy. You all might not have a whole day to take for yourselves…but as some of you have already heard me say, go and find something enjoyable to do. Put down the phone, turn off the computer, and go and do something you enjoy. If you don’t, I honestly don’t know what’s going to happen. All you might end up like is a very sad and lonely person who gets all their work done (maybe) but still hasn’t really enjoyed the time they were here.
Perhaps another example might be worth a try. In music, there are a lot of notes…and the notes creates a beautiful sound, but music has more than one component. There are the notes, and then there are the spaces without notes, the rests, and the slowing and accelerating. They all are a part of the rests that come to make the sounds come together and make the beautiful music we hear every day. I always love when I listen to a classic piano or orchestra piece and the music goes from this intense speed and passion to sheer silence. and then, out of the rest comes the passion and fire again. but there has to be a rest, a breath between notes, a stop between starts, there has to be something more than just the green light. There has to be a Sabbath. And we have to proclaim it.
So throughout this week, throughout the rest of the semester, take a brake. Maybe it’s every day while you shower, maybe it’s just that 45 minutes a week when you have the room to yourself. Or maybe it’s a bigger thing and you spend part of your Saturday doing something enjoyable. Maybe you actually take a full day’s break. but find a way to let go of something. There is some book you need to read, some paper you need to do, something that will always distract you from this moment of serenity. but the truth is that life is going to fly away and you’re going to realize that you’ve nothing left in the tank, nothing left in that shell of a body for giving to yourself or anyone else. So let’s try something new, or perhaps something old that needs a little revitilization. Let’s proclaim the Sabbath, and come to find the rests in our journey.
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