There’s a good chance you were well taught!

Immediately he made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead to the other side, while he dismissed the crowds. And after he had dismissed the crowds, he went up the mountain by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone

Matthew 14:22-23 (NRSV)

A study in Iceland finds that people who work fewer hours are happier.

SHOCKING, huh? I know, you’re not surprised, and neither am I. This would not be news to any reasonable person who has friends or relations anywhere other than in the United States. We are taught from an early age to ridicule the “lax working habits” of people from other nations. I remember the first time I heard the phrase “paternity leave.” It was long before such a thing was evident on these shores. 

I’d urge you to read this article and to search up others on the subject.

We never stop working, though we long ago left the days of hunting/gathering and subsistence farming behind us. Sooner or later, everyone works through weekends. We constantly compare ourselves to others. We greet one another with litanies of our busy-ness (BORING, nobody really wants to know how busy you are—but still we persist).

Why Not Take the Whole Summer Off?

Do you remember that time you thought about becoming a teacher, because you’d have summers off? That lasted about as long as it took you to realize what a teacher’s life is like the rest of the year. Sure, there’s the school day, but then…when do you make lesson plans? When do you correct work, and when do you put grades together? I assure you, it’s not during school hours! 

Needless to say, while talking myself out of becoming a teacher, I gained tremendous respect for the profession!

But why is this all even so? Why do we measure our value by the rigor of our jobs, and why is our worth tied to how long we keep our heads down working? Why does our work define our value?  

“No Rest” Means Eventual Burnout

The people I know who get the most rest are the people I like to be around best. I don’t just mean sleep either. I mean the people who know how to disengage and take time for themselves. It’s a lost art. But if studies like the one in Iceland are any indication, we would probably flourish more with less work. We need work to feel useful and to give our lives meaning, but too much of anything becomes drudgery.

What’s the magic ratio of work hours to rest hours? Who knows. It’s likely as individual as we each are. But I have hope that perhaps things will begin to move in a more restful direction. Jesus took time whenever he could to be “off” rather than “on.” His ministry probably lasted about three years. You’ve got the entire rest of your life to live. Why are you so hard on yourself?