Understanding rest

Fr. Roy Cimagala

OUR Christian faith teaches that rest is not just a physical or bodily need, or a way to recover strength, physical, mental, psychological, emotional, etc. Christian rest, of course, involves all of these, but it is still a lot more.

It means the fullness of our life, the reaching of our final destination, the coronation of our work. It is a symbol of our eternal rest where we enjoy communion both with God and with everybody else.

It would be good to ask ourselves if we are consciously developing this mindset regarding our rest, especially when we go to bed at the end of the day, or when we approach Sunday, which is supposed to be not only the day of the Lord, but also the day of rest.

We have to be aware of the spiritual and supernatural dimension of our rest, and to form the appropriate attitudes and habits. In our Christian life, we have to understand that our attitude towards rest needs to be worked out.

The Christian attitude toward rest just can’t come out spontaneously.

God’s grace always needs our cooperation. We have to reach that point when we can sincerely echo St. Augustine’s words: “Lord, my heart is restless until it rests in you.”

We have to learn how to rest in God. Resting cannot and should not have any other mode than to rest in God always!

Just the same, we cannot underestimate the importance of properly considering the physical and emotional aspect of rest. In this regard, I always remember my summer vacations in Tagaytay.

Tagaytay in summer is, I think, the perfect place to be.

It certainly makes you forget about global warming. It’s like a lucky halfway house, right at the middle between urban and rural life. It’s got flowers, fruits, scenic views, nice people, serenity and isolation.

Part of me pines for an occasion to rough it up with others, doing physical, even strenuous things, away from my usual intellectual work. It soothes nerves, relieves stress, dissipates tension.

This type of activity has a peculiar and effective way of being united with others. I am getting convinced that this direct physical contact with people and with things gives one a different kind of communion that can’t be attained through ideas, words and arguments. I can’t explain this yet.

I get a certain kind of satisfaction when I can let go of the usual amenities and savor again the hand-to-mouth way of life. One time when I gave a seminar to young altar boys, I realized I enjoyed dipping my fingers together with theirs in a common bowl of food.

I also get the chance to indulge in my hobbies—reading, singing, and just allowing my thoughts freeange movement. I feel like a child who suddenly gets scot-free to play under the rain, or a prisoner who manages to escape.

And it’s amazing what thoughts and insights one can get out of this situation! Truly, many mysteries of life get revealed in these occasions. A certain lavishness bursts out amid the Spartan conditions.

But we have to understand that resting comes after working, and that it should be, as much as possible, an expression of our satisfaction and joy derived from our work.

Rest, therefore, is and should be vitally linked to our work. We have to correct every tendency to consider our rest as an escape from our work. Unfortunately, that attitude is rampant these days. For many people, rest has become completely alienated from our work.

Aside from being an escape from work, it has become the moment to engage in self-seeking and self-absorption. Both work and rest have been uprooted from their original meaning and purpose, and that’s the reason the two have become at odds with each other.

We need to recover the original state of affairs. And I know it’s not going to be easy. Formidable barriers are now formed in terms of culturally ingrained biases and prejudices. How to dismantle these barriers is a big question mark.

I feel that we need some kind of revolution here. But for that to happen, we need to ask how many people realize this need?

Frankly, I feel only a few, and the few who do realize seem to be resigned to accept the status quo.

I suppose we have to be extremely patient and hopeful here. The revolution takes a long time to happen. The gestation period is slow, but let’s hope that we can sustain the focus and concern so that we can attain a critical mass that would trigger this revolution to explode.

E-mail: roycimagala@gmail.com