Home Sermons The Necessity of Idleness

The Necessity of Idleness

The Necessity of Idleness - 2010-01-25 Do you remember the story? A successful businessman visited a Mexican village. As he walked along, he saw a man lying under a tree, doing nothing. The businessman stopped and said, “Hey, Friend, don’t you think it’s time to be up and about, doing something productive?” The man lying under the tree looked up and answered, “Why?” The businessman said, “Why? So you can get a job, earn some money, and make something of yourself.” The man under the tree smiled and said, again, “Why?” Now annoyed, the businessman replied, “Why ... don’t be so dumb! So you can make money, start a savings account and then someday you can retire and enjoy life.” The man under the tree answered, “I’m enjoying it right now!” Old story. New sermon. For some of us, to enjoy life now is also also against the rules of the game of life. We’re not supposed to enjoy life now. Today we are supposed to work hard! And then ... sometime in the future ... we can enjoy doing nothing much at all ... being idle. My message today, “The Necessity of Idleness.” “Idleness is the devil’s workshop” is an expression quoted so often that some people believe that it must be in the Bible. Well, it’s not. It’s not an inspired message. But sometimes we live as if it were. To it we could add the words of Reverend Isaac Watts, “For Satan finds some mischief still for idle hands to do ...” or the words of another seventeenth century clergyman, Robert Burton, “Be not solitary, be not idle.” These expressions are still part of our society. They influence our personal theologies about time spent in prayer, retreat, and play! They are part of the culture and society we are part of. Think about it ... When was the last time you simply sat somewhere for hours - hours! - doing nothing? In the summer, when was the last time you simply sat outside on your porch or on your deck doing absolutely nothing? “Nothing” meaning ... “no thing ...” not getting up to weed, or water flowers, or sweep the deck or the porch, or talk to the neighbours When was the last time you simply sat anywhere doing “Nothing.” In this season, when was the last time you simply sat watching the snow fall or the wind blow ... or the big dozer clean the snow of the road beside your house ... or your spouse sleep ... or your grandchild play with his toy? And in that time, DID nothing? Few of us have any idea about what the inside of the “devil’s workshop” would look like. Being idle doesn’t cost us a cent. But it does have a cost. It’s ... “guilt.” Why do we keep busy? Isn’t it because we don’t want to feel guilty about wasting time? Most of us are behind with something or other, even if we are retired. And if we waste time, we will get that much further behind! And if perchance we are forced into idleness in a long line of cars waiting for a train, or sickness, or retirement, or power failures, we get anxious, and upset, and angry! It’s a reaction and a thought process that needs to be recognized and called into question as disciples of Christ in today’s world. And it needs to be called into question in my life ... because I was raised in a home and culture that stressed the importance of being on time, having your homework done, doing your very best, and not “just hanging out” or “fooling around” or ... “wasting” time. I decided to take Friday “off.” And the first thing that crossed my mind in the morning was, “So what will I do today?” “Besides trim the dog.” “And the usual household stuff.” As I thought about this message, I wondered why I hold Sparkie on my knee when we travel ... and realized that there is probably more to it than simply “spoiling” a dog. With Sparkie on my knee, I can’t DO anything! I can’t even do so-do-ku or write out a grocery list or read the paper. I’m forced to do nothing ... and of course, because I am doing something - as in, holding a dog - I’m spared the guilt I usually associate with “doing nothing!” In today’s world, we simply haven’t learned to doing nothing, to be idle. Busy minds, busy hearts and busy-bodies all lack time for the natural joys of life! “Busybodies” are also sick bodies. Alcoholism and drug addiction are seen as serious problems in our world. So are the problems of the “workaholic”? The Church, the Country, and the business world rewards those addicts who make their work their total and full-time occupation with promotion, gifts, and gold medals. Why do we lack programs to cure us of our addition to work? How many workaholics or recovering workaholics do you know? Have you, even for a fleeting moment, wondered if you are a work-addict? Edward Hays raises these questions: Are you able to visit without having to talk about your work? Are you able to spend an entire day without a little “shot” of work? Are you a closet worker? Do you take your work home with you, to bed with you? Do you, when forced by some circumstance to sit and do nothing, find that the palms of your hands sweat and little crawly creatures can be felt in your pants? To lack meaningful work in life is not a good thing, but to be unable to stop working is much, much worse. Anyone who is seriously interested in prayer or in a closer walk with God must learn on occasions to be idle, and not feel one bit guilty. We need to relearn how to enjoy the present moment and we need to hear from God that we are people who are valuable and precious to Him not for what we do, but for who we are. Our worth is not found in a sense of profit or accomplishment, but in simply being unique, creative, original people, created by God . Do you remember the memory Ralph Friesen Milton shared with us about his mother, who was a senior in a Care Home, as she came close to the end of her life. She said, “But Ralph, I’m not good for anything, any more!” And he assured her, “But Mom, you hold me close to your heart as you always did ... as you always will. YOU are precious. Babies aren’t good for anything much, either. But babies too are ... precious!” Sometimes we aren’t good for anything much, either, but we are precious as we are, precious to God, and precious to those who love us! A Picasso painting doesn’t have to do anything, nor does a symphony, or a beautiful sunset. its great value is found in its “is-ness.” It is the same with you and with me. It’s a truth all those in care home and all shut-ins need to hear: they are important people; they are valued people; they are loved - not for what they do, but for who they are. And it is a truth we need to hear: we are important people, we are valued people, we are loved for who we are. And so today, I’d suggest we haul down the sign that reads, “Idleness is the devil’s workshop,” and replace it with, “Idleness is God’s playroom.” Being students in the playground-school of idleness will teach us the most perfect prayer of gratitude, the enjoyment of the gift of life. When we can sit and stop working, we will find that the wine tastes better, the sun is brighter and the song of birds is clearer. Because of idleness, we will be more aware of all of life and it will take on a greater charm. A mystic [or monk, if you will in our culture] is one whose life is devoted to experiencing the Divine Mystery of God. Being idle allows us to taste, see, feel, and hear what Jesus has to say to us. Whenever you “play around” with a guitar, a softball bat or with writing a poem or sermon, you enter the realm of the spiritual. Whenever you are able to reject feelings of guilt (and you can!) ... whenever you reject those feelings, and can enter fully into such “irresponsible” activities as puttering around, tinkering, or even poking along, you are in God’s playground ..... and your prayer-room. It is good to be lazy on certain days. It is good to be idle at certain times in each day, set aside each day, to play in God’s playground. Without space or time to waste, how can creativity, dreams or prayers ever be possible? In the play Romeo and Juliet Mercutio says to Romeo, “True, I talk of dreams which are the children of an idle brain.” Well, prayers are also the children of an idle brain. Idleness is not only God’s playroom, it is also the Holy of Holies, the place where we meet God ... the place of deep worship and communion with our Lord. The great and beautiful temple of God in Jerusalem was the center of all worship. And at its very center was the Holy of Holies, the dwelling place of God. So sacred was this tabernacle of the temple that only the high priest was allowed to enter it - and then only once a year, on the Day of Atonement. Behind the heavy veil that covered its entrance was a room that measured 30-by-30 feet. And what was in the Holy of Holies? Nothing! It was entirely empty! God lives in empty, silent spaces. Should it surprise us hard-working “busybodies” in this technological world that sometimes we find it hard to feel God present in our busy, crowded, never-empty lives? Today, we insist that new churches be multipurpose. We don’t like empty, unused space, even if it is God’s space. Our worship, as well, is often too busy with words, song and action. The prayer of the heart - meditation - is difficult because we aren’t “doing” anything. Meditation is time spent in an empty and idle, non-productive manner. Other forms of prayer allow for addition: fourteen psalms recited, three pages of scripture read, five decades of Rosary prayed. But silence? How do you total up silence? How do you measure its “effectiveness”? But each time we still ourselves and do nothing, each time ... every time ... we pray idle prayer ... ... without words or phrases or attitudes ... we will move closer to God ... the God who dwells within our personal Holy of Holies. Unless we can learn to waste time, we will never be happy or holy people. So, is this call to be idle, to “waste” time, in our busy contemporary life, unrealistic? It’s not unrealistic. But it may take some planning. In a world where usually both husband and wife must work outside the home, where the demands of family, church, community and neighbours are constantly at our door, we must wisely budget our time or we will pay the cost. If we use “spare” time, particularly a day of rest (Sabbath ... idleness) to do the laundry, clean the house, shovel the driveway, wash the car, visit our parents, go to the hockey game, do the shopping ... where will we find this “time” we are supposed to waste? We can’t simply run away from our responsibilities and become slow-moving idle people? Well we know we can choose to do several things with time ... we can “kill” it, “waste” it, “spend” it, and we can “enjoy” it. We might want to look at what we do with our time, asking this simple yet complex question: Is time spent in this way or in that way re-creative? Holy, idle time is enjoying time, ourselves and all we include in the magic word of “Life.” In idle time, we are renewed by contact with the unproductive, empty time where God lives. And the test of “idle” time is this: “Am I more alive, more alert, more relaxed, more holy (even if I don’t realize it at the time), as a result of doing nothing?” If we are to be idlers instead of “busybodies,” we will have to use discipline to create spaces and time for the doing of nothing. Perhaps it will be “going for a drive” - not going anyplace - just a drive, that is something like idleness in motion that is something like that great invention, the rocking chair - which let people be idle, yet on the move? Going for a ride or for a walk allows for the casual conversation, the wasted talk, that is so essential for love. Fishing is another form of idleness - that is, if it really doesn’t matter whether you catch anything or not! Whenever we play sports - not to win, but just to play - we are in a form of idleness. And of course, another idle sport is soaking in a hot bathtub. These are just a few ways to be idle that are part of our enjoyment of life - enjoyment that is to be tasted now, tonight, and today. Jesus spoke often of the joys of life, of the need to look at the birds of the air, the flowers of the fields. He spoke of “abundant” life. And in the home of Mary and Martha, he reminded Martha that in the midst of her anxiety about “getting things done,” she was missing a greater gift. If we are to be disciples we may have to adjust our schedules to create empty times and spaces for God and for other people. On a day off, when we’ve drawn up a list of things that absolutely must be done, it may be that you will choose to sit down and cut it in half! Then, whatever you are doing, whether it’s the laundry or cleaning or working in the basement you may choose to try to do it in a lazy, idle way. You may decide to take your time, refuse to set a deadline, and then taste fully whatever it is that you are doing. And slowly, begin to enjoy idle time more and more. Just sitting and visiting opens doors and windows that reveal our feelings, our doubts and our dreams. Such insights into one another cannot be programmed into the famous, “I-think-we-ought-to-have-a-talk” sort of thing. If we want to be idlers, we will have to turn off the inner critic and leave the unwashed dishes in the sink, the lawn unmowed, the driveway full of snow, and last week’s dust on the picture frames to allow time for doing nothing! Today, I’d suggest, don’t let the list of things you "must do" run your life. Create an environment around you that encourages the pleasures of idleness. Jesus gave us nine beatitudes in the Sermon on the Mount. Today, and tomorrow, let’s try to experience what might be called the tenth: “Blessed are the idlers for they shall enjoy God ... and life.”