A Season of Rest

As I sit in my living room, wearing my Mexican blanket and toboggan, I have opportunity to reflect.  The weather outside is brutal from the human perspective; 5 degree air temperature with a wind chill around -20 degrees.  Snow covers the ground.  My furnace is set at 60 degrees in an attempt to save money on natural gas, hence the reason for the blanket and the stocking cap.  Yet, this brutal season is all by design (in my opinion).

Frequently, living in a capitalist country, there is a sense that we have to constantly be Go, Go, Go.  My employer is open today, hoping that every school in Ohio being closed will create opportunities for admission paying visitors.  We do not let bad weather stand in the way of generating revenue.  Fortunately today is a scheduled day off for me.

Instead, I view days like today, and seasons like the Midwestern winter, as opportunities for rest.  Creation needs an opportunity to rest.  Constantly being in Go mode weakens us and makes us more susceptible to disease.  Creation is the same way.  In the Midwest, that resting stage for Creation in winter.  The trees lose their leaves and go dormant.  The above ground portions of perennials and grasses turn brown and wither away.  The animals seek shelter in caves and hollow trees.  Aquatic creatures retreat to the warmest parts of their water body.  All of these organisms are seeking their rest, as intended, waiting for more favorable conditions in spring.

In the desert southwest, the season of rest is summer, when air temperatures top 110 degrees.  Trees lose their leaves.  Animals and insects find shaded hideaways to ride out the heat until the cooler nighttime arrives.
 
It would seem that us humans are the only ones who have not figured out that we need a season of rest as well.  We scurry around like headless fowl, trying to make money for ourselves or our employers, totally blinded to the fact that God created the world to have times for rest and rejuvenation.

My plan, which has already been implemented, is to take tomorrow off as well.  I am not a doctor, a police officer, or an EMS technician.  For there is nothing so critical that my presence is needed, beyond a divinely inspired day of rest!