REDEFINING LAZY
It is a Sunday afternoon. The day didn’t start as I planned. A movie on Saturday night drew me in and I stayed up later than planned, which meant I slept later than planned. “No problem,” I thought – I can make up the time but there are certain things I don’t cut short – stretching and brewing coffee. My timing was perfect until I remembered that I had not shaved my head the night before – I was watching a movie. I got things together and walked into church at the same time as every Sunday. I left church with productive intentions toward the remainder of the day.
BUT- storm clouds started gathering, a sight not recently seen. I looked in the backyard and the hydrangea blooms were blowing in the wind. Then the raindrops began to fall and the plants that were suffering seemed to breathe a sigh of relief.
To someone who doesn’t know me well and watching my inactivity from afar, it might have appeared that I did nothing for the next two plus hours. They would probably say I was being lazy. I would disagree.
Rumi says in “The Laziest Son,” “Come on. Say something of the ways you are lazy.” To be described as lazy in our culture is not a positive. Lazy indicates “disinclined to activity or exertion, not energetic or vigorous. Outwardly that was me on this rainy Sunday afternoon. Inwardly it couldn’t be more incorrect.
I sat on the screened-in covered porch and was entertained by the increasing population of hummingbirds in the backyard as the storm intensified which eventually drove them to their safe place. I drifted off into a deep dreamless sleep (remember the movie). I awakened refreshed.
Here’s what I would say to Rumi’s request. As I listened to the wind, watched the lightning, and heard the thunder roll, a stanza of poetry was born in my heart. And the fact that you are reading what was written just after the storm passed over indicates that my laziness had purpose.
Laziness, while not a label I generally want ascribed to me, has a place and purpose in my life. I would rather be described as busy. BUT busyness without pockets of laziness leads to episodes of burnout. No one wants that label.
Take time to be lazy occasionally. I had a lazy Sunday afternoon. I and my piece of the world are refreshed.
Psalm 46:10
PONDER THIS THOUGHT --- Wholesome laziness is an acceptable practice for tuning into the mind and body.
After three weeks of road travel, today was my lazy day. Be still and know that I am God. Thanks sis.