500th Post: Rest Ethic

Hello, All. Long time, no see! This is mostly because I started my new job, and that keeps me busy. It's also because I like the job, and therefore have less angst to process. In short, my life is interesting in a way that gives me less time for public reflection, but not interesting in a way that would make a juicy blog post.

I do, however, have something I'd like to put forth. It popped into my head a couple weeks ago, when I was at one of several voiceover workshops I've taken lately. Our sound engineer told us that he only gets about 4-5 hours of sleep per night; he's that busy. He likes all the work that keeps him busy, which is good. At one point, though, he mentioned his "work ethic," and that got me thinking. I've heard other super-busy people talk about their "work ethics." And I wonder if what they really have is a work preference. (Note: What follows are my own general thoughts, and not an assessment of this particular engineer, whom I don't know well.)

I'm familiar with what's known as the Protestant Work Ethic, which I believe is based largely on a verse in the New Testament that talks about doing everything "as unto Christ," and the idea that we honor God by working hard, pulling our own weight, and doing things with excellence. There's a moral component to it. I would say that my own work ethic is what pushed me to do a good job for my employers through several jobs which I only took to get by, or which I flat-out hated. And if a person is driven largely by a conviction that they're working hard because it's right, then yes, that's a work ethic. But I respectfully submit that if you just like being busy, or hate sitting still, then that's a preference rather than an ethic.

It's possible for these things to overlap, of course. I don't think that a work ethic is necessarily absent simply because you happen to enjoy the work you're doing. I just think it's worth making the distinction, for three main reasons:

1. Suggesting that more work is more ethical also suggests that less work is less ethical, and the person who gets 8 hours of sleep is morally weaker than the one who limits themselves to 5. Equating your preference for busyness with a work ethic doesn't leave room for people who don't share your preference to share that moral ground.

2. Failing to make the distinction could allow someone to overlook other issues, such as an inability to spend time alone or a tendency to undernourish relationships, while putting a virtuous stamp of "work ethic" on it.

3. Blurring busyness with a work ethic doesn't allow room for what I've begun thinking of as a Rest Ethic.

As you'll have noticed if you've read my posts over the past year or so, I've been growing in my appreciation for rest. Sleep is good for us. It helps us to solve problems. It keeps us healthy. It allows us to be in better moods and focus more during our waking hours, so we're giving other people our best. And waking rest is good, too. The season of unemployment -- or, as I'm increasingly viewing it, my Sabbatical -- was fantastic for me. It was a great transition period during which I was able to explore a new career path and become emotionally ready to enjoy my new job. And I had plenty of time to let my mind wander, to pray, to take naps, to exercise (and I came to love relaxing forms of exercise, like yoga), to read online humor articles, and all kinds of things that I find restful.

Now, I readily admit that, just as some folks have a preference for busyness, I have a preference for rest. I love having blank days on my calendar when I can do as much or as little as I like. If I become too busy, even fun activities cease to be fun. But I think that, as with work, while the preference and ethic are distinct, there can be an overlap. I've been able to increasingly enjoy my own preference for rest -- instead of assuming it was mere laziness and fighting and berating myself, as I used to do -- because I also believe in its value. Part of our creaturely state is being finite and limited. We need food, water, social interaction, and rest. To disregard the importance of one of these is to be unrealistic about our humanity. OK, maybe that's kind of a judgy way to put it. How about this: While there can be virtue in self-control and self-discipline, and in not giving in to every urge the moment we have it, there is also virtue in learning how to take care of our whole selves.

My spiritual and cultural backgrounds are pretty work-centered. The Protestant Work Ethic played a big role in the development of America's character, and many of the churches I've attended also spring largely from this ground. But there are other traditions that place a high value on such things as contemplation, meditation, forms of prayer that center on listening rather than intercession and "spiritual battle," and all kinds of other practices that, to us who are used to being busy, can seem boring, passive... so darn quiet. But the idea that God can move through these quiet means is exciting to me.

Lastly, a disclaimer: I'm not a huge fan of defining something by disparaging everything else. I'm not saying that busyness is bad, or that a preference for it is bad. I'm just saying that the ethic of work is well complemented by the ethic of rest, and that each serves its role best when balanced by the other.

Proportions will vary from person to person :-).