REST

Each year millions of us set aside our, projects, plans, goals, ambitions, school, or whatever else it is we are working on, and sit down for a little brainless activity we call Tetris. OK, so maybe you are not one of the millions who are still enticed by little funny shaped blocks falling from the ceiling that must be arranged into rows so that they can disappear and be converted into points for you to brag about—but you do know what I am talking about. I will bet dollars to donuts that at some point in your life, whether it be on a video game system, a computer, or the internet (maybe even a cell phone) you tried your hand at the icon of virtual masonry, and probably even played a little longer than you initially intended to.

This year marked the 25th anniversary of those loveable, stackable, addicting blocks, and if you do not already know they were invented by a man named Alexey Pajitnov at the Dorodnicyn Computing Centre at Moscow’s Academy of Science Institute. Apparently, the program must have been so intense that Pajitnov needed something to help him unwind. Either that was the case, or the program was so boring that he invented a diversion to help him pass the time. Either way, Pajitnov can be credited with crafting the world’s most successful decompressing agent since the back massage was invented—Wikipedia does not have a date of conception for the back massage, but I looked just to be sure.

We all have different things we turn to when it comes to resting our nerves and attempting to return to some semblance of normalcy in our life. For some of us recovery involves going to an island in a distant sea and laying out on white sands until our skin looks like a piece of lacquered rosewood, or just a red rose. For others of us it requires something as simple as sitting out on a porch swing with a crisp new hardback and a cup of Starbucks dark roast coffee. There are all types excursions one can choose from when looking for a way to unwind, in fact an entire industry has been built on this basic human instinct, but do any of them really, really, work?

In Matthew 11:28 Jesus says what I believe is one of his most ambitious, and some might even say downright presumptuous, professions of his entire ministry. He says, “Come to me all you who are weary and heavy burdened, and I will give you rest.” Often, when we consider all of the roles that Jesus plays in humanity we forget the idea that Jesus helps us relax. We are quick to say that he saves, and forgives, and gives mercy, but rarely do we consider the fact that he helps us by allowing our nerves to take a much needed break. Perhaps the reason we do not consider this attribute of our Lord, is that in light of his other attributes this one does not seem all that significant. However, in my mind this is one of the greatest and most compelling statements that our savior, or for that matter anyone in history, ever made. “Come over to me and I will allow you to just chill for a while.” What an amazing concept that is in a society that seems to have an inherent need for speed, like some obsessed race car driver that started with a Big Wheel at age three. For many of us we have lost touch with the concept of rest like a friend we graduated from high school with and promised we would always be there for.

As we enter into another holiday season full of packed malls and loud households it may be good to not only remind ourselves of the real reason for the season, but also to remember what that reason is offering us for nothing more than a few moments of our time. The turkey will not suffer if it does not get to go into the oven at exactly the time it expected, and the relatives will not mind if the ornaments are not perfectly placed on the tree, or the gifts are not stacked like a Macy’s commercial. Only you will suffer if you do not find time to take Jesus up on one of the greatest offers he ever made. REST!