Rest and be restless.

“Come to me all you who are tired and overburdened, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28)

We are always tired—physically, psychically, and spiritually. Rest has become a commodity. Energy drinks, bars, and other things keep us alert and awake. All the while, we are asleep.

Our bodies are machines that produce effects and outcomes and without these consequential productions they have no value. Our minds serve the purposes that they have been outlined for by the apocalyptic overtones of politics, superstition, and popular culture.

We stay “on” with power-buttons that control our technological limbs—including this computer you are reading. We cannot risk being “off.” There is no value in rest. We fear the alienation of being alone with things turned off.

Because of this, and other things too, we do not experience true restlessness.

We do not rest because if we do we would face the deep longing for eternal rest, for God. If we abstained from the constant awakeness and went from “on” to “off”—if we sat down, turned-off the lights, computer, phone, television, radio, and everything else—we would encounter the mystery we find in rest: the enchanting restlessness of the human desire for love.

Rest and be restless.