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Good morning. Recently, I heard a speaker at a conference say that often when he asked someone how they were, the answer would be "I'm really busy", and usually, he observed, they wore their busyness as a badge of honour. My conscience was pricked! I'm afraid sometimes I too catch myself telling people how busy I am and taking pride in it and I suspect I'm not alone.
For many of us, Bank holidays, like today, can come as a blessed relief: a day off work and a chance to have a change of pace; however, it often means we end up just as busy but doing something different.
It can be good to be reminded sometimes that our self-value and identity do not so much depend on what we do or how busy we are,聽 but on something much deeper. Christian faith teaches that our true value and identity are founded on being made in God's image and likeness and both are deepened in a living and loving relationship with him and with others.
There's a lovely passage in the Gospel of Mark where the apostles have just returned from being busy preaching and healing the sick. They're exhausted and Jesus says to them: "Come away with me for a while to rest and be by ourselves." What strikes me about this story is that Jesus recognises an essential human need: the need to rest.
True rest is about reconnecting with our innermost selves and resetting the balance between who we are and what we do. It鈥檚 not always easy to achieve, but I believe it鈥檚 necessary, not just on bank holidays but every day.
Loving God, you chose to rest when you completed the work of creation and showed us the value of our own resting. Teach us to find fulfilment not so much in what we do, but in who you have made us to be. Amen.