Working at Rest: Make a Breathing Space For Yourself at Christmas

By Jordan Dillon

I work on my day off. My mind organizes tomorrow’s tasks as I lay down to sleep. I squeeze in errands between appointments. I review our family calendar while I clean up after dinner. I review the family budget while I pump gas into our minivan. My down time isn’t always rest. And I can do this for months.

But this isn’t how we are meant to live.

Every dimension of our existence (mind, body, soul) is designed to work and to rest. It’s no secret that we work too much and rest too little. Many articles and books have been dedicated to this unhealthy trend in our culture. However, having this knowledge doesn’t organically make us change our actions.

A few years ago I came face to face with the biblical rhythm of work and rest. God works in creation for 6 days and then rests. In the Levitical law every seventh year the land is to be left fallow so it can rest. The writer of Hebrews even relates salvation to ‘entering God’s rest.’ In the big picture God worked and then rested and so should we. Actually it’s not that we “should,” it’s that this is how we are designed. We MUST work and then we MUST rest. Both are for our benefit and health. Both pieces together reflect a holistic life in God’s rhythm.

Keeping rest in our lives allows us to calm our entire being, commune with God, and reflect. Sabbath rest is a time to be, and not to act. Sabbath rest is choosing to let go of the structures we place in our lives that start to run us if we’re not careful. Sabbath rest is prioritizing obedience and laying aside obligation. Sabbath rest is a time to experience the sorrows of life under the curse, the hope of the New Jerusalem, and to accept the mysterious God who connects the two.

In his book about the Sabbath, Heschel says it this way, “Unless one learns how to relish the taste of Sabbath … one will be unable to enjoy the taste of eternity in the world to come.” ―Abraham Joshua Heschel, The Sabbath

For me there has developed a natural rhythm to my year. I work hard and labor for 11 months. When December hits, I begin to work at resting. Of course I can’t drop every single obligation and responsibility for 31 days. But I can practice rest in moments and mentality, in perspective and reflection. There’s no formula for each of my Decembers to look the same as the last one. But I’ve begun choosing to rest in December specifically.

I can choose to rest in the silence of a snowfall. I can choose to rest for a few moments in the glow of the Advent candles or the Christmas lights. I can choose to rest in the laughter of my kids. I can choose to rest my mind from worry. I can choose to rest in a song that connects to my soul.

One song that has really become the epitome of December rest for me is the arrangement of “Silent Night” by Mannheim Steamroller. I heard it for the first time performed by a live orchestra a few years ago, and the pure melody and delicate tone of the violins connected with me.  Contemplating the words as the music slips by adds to the peace. Listening to this song has become part of my December rest.

I’ve always loved music. It was a permanent fixture in my house growing up. Both of my parents sing, and my mom is has a degree in piano performance. Looking back, my dad really gave me a practical picture of what rest looked like. As a kid, I remember seeing my dad often lie down on his back on the floor with his oversized spiral-corded head-phones plugged into our 4-foot tall pioneer stereo. And he would rest. He would listen to music and rest, with his hands on his chest, breathing deeply. I’ll always carry that image with me. It’s another way for me to picture what rest can look like. I’ve tried it myself. And it works.

There are of course other ways, and they might look very different from this. But you will know rest when you find it. It might take a little work because it’s not a natural thing for us in our context. It’s countercultural, really.

But there is still time as the year comes to a close.

Take a moment, take a month.

Live in the rhythm of rest.

Jordan Dillon is the lead machinist at Strataflo Products Inc, in Fort Wayne Indiana, where he lives with his wife and 3 children.  Strataflo produces high quality check valves and Jordan has been with them for 14 years.  Jordan also graduated in 2008 from Huntington University with a BA in Bible and Religion.  Jordan has experience in both manufacturing and historic house restoration among other Midwestern life experiences  and enjoys writing about all aspects of life as they interface with God’s Kingdom.  Read more of his writing here.