Shade Tree Wisdom 7/25/09

“Come ye aside and rest awhile”, said Jesus to the hard-working disciples.

It’s a good idea, often little used, because we have just so many things to get done, or so many requests for our presence, or so many needs to be met, we simply have no time to rest, or, as studies show, to sleep either. For we show up as a sleep-deprived generation.

That’s really sad. Have you ever really watched a child carry out an errand? You ask them to take this over there, and in doing so they stop to watch a beetle crawl across the walk, or pat a dog nearby, or try to catch a butterfly, or smell a flower, or give a hand to a person doing some yard work. They are not in any hurry, are they?

In the 18th century Dr. Samuel Johnson, who compiled the first comprehensive English dictionary, prepared a collection of writings in which he quoted excerpts from a weekly column he had written called “The Idler”. He wrote, “every man is, or hopes to be, an idler”.

Think of it. The thought is not bad, it is noble. Idleness, the opposite of too much busyness, was a defined goal, one that one could reach, or at least strive for. For when we think of it, isn’t too much busyness what often causes the trouble?

And it’s often because we don’t see what lies just at hand that we miss the choicest blessings and the richest enjoyment. When Jesus healed the man in the graveyard, the healed man wanted to travel along. Jesus said, “No, you stay here and tell what happened to you”. Not, now travel through the whole land, or the entire region, just stay and tell.

Or the Samaritan woman who went to her village and invited all to come and hear the person “Who knew all about me”.

One of the attractions of those small towns listed as 100 Best to live in is, ‘When we take our dog for a walk, we often don’t come back for a long time, because everyone wants to stop and visit, and we like that.”

So “Come ye aside and rest a while” is advice, please do follow.

GPD 7/25/09