Leisure or Rest?
It’s often thought that leisure and rest are the same, and so are equally the opposite of work – but are they?
[Source: ‘Where’s God on Monday?’ Alistair Mackenzie and Wayne Kirkland, 2002, Used by permission of Nav Press, All rights reserved. www.navpress.com (1-800-366=7788)]“It’s important to note the distinction between rest and leisure. Rest and Sabbath are not the same as leisure, although they may certainly overlap. Rest is all about recovering our equilibrium – with God, with ourselves, with others and with creation. Leisure has as its goal personal enjoyment – which may well be a by-product of rest, but not its purpose. The goal is quite different.
In fact, leisure can frequently divert us from our rest. For many people it either becomes so dependent on frenetic activity that is it just another form of work (like the old ‘work hard, play hard’ maxim), or so caught up in personal pleasure that there is little room to reconnect with God, our inner selves and others.”
