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When I was growing up, the most miserable day of the week was Sunday. For one thing, Sunday spelled church, which I didn’t appreciate at the time. I used to climb a tall poplar tree about 9 o’clock each Sunday morning and hide behind the leaves, hoping my parents would forget they had a fifth child and would drive off—leaving me alone with the refrigerator. But they never did.

Then Sunday afternoon rolled around—the longest five hours of the week. Jewish texts prohibit 39 specific acts during Sabbath. My parent’s list was longer. We were not allowed to throw a baseball, toss a Frisbee, yell loudly, run in the yard or chew tobacco. Acceptable activities included praying, napping, listening to Billy Graham’s “Hour of Decision” and singing hymns to elderly people at the Golden Hills Lodge. When you are a boy of 10 or 11, your world does not revolve around these things.

My parents relaxed their rules over the years, but to me, rest became synonymous with boredom. And the day arrived when I began to prefer work to a forced rest. Maybe you’re like me, you start getting antsy when you’re not accomplishing something, anything. I lay back in my recliner intending to relax, and find myself removing lint from my jeans. Doing nothing is difficult. Deadlines must by met, problems solved, souls won and cranky people appeased. How will God go on without me? Surely he’ll panic.

We were made to be productive, to get off our sofa’s and accomplish things that are lasting and meaningful. But non -stop hurry wears us down, and burns us out. So what I as doctor Phil recommend, is that approximately once a week, what we need most is a good old dash of nothing.

It was God’s idea from day one. Listen to His challenge to us from the book of Isaiah. “If you call the Sabbath a delight and the Lord’s holy day honourable, and if you honour it by not going your own way and not doing as you please or speaking idle words, then you will find your joy in the Lord, and I will cause you to ride on the heights of the land.” – Isaiah 58:13,14

When was the last time you approached a day with no agenda? That you committed to doing nothing important, all day long? Not because we’re forced to, but because we need to. And because it’s God-like to create, then rest. Have some fun while your at it too. Rejoice, give thanks and remember to laugh. It sure beats spending the afternoon in a poplar tree.

Phil Callaway

Phil Callaway, the host of Laugh Again, is an award-winning author and speaker, known worldwide for his humorous yet perceptive look at life.

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