LEISURE

Many years ago I had to write an essay for a college English class in “The Quintessence of America.” Before I could even begin to write, I had to open my dictionary to learn the meaning of quintessence. I had never heard that word before. It means the “purist and most perfect form, manifestation, type, or embodiment (of a quality, etc.)”. I have no memory of what I deemed to be the quintessence of America.

What I do remember is the class when my professor returned our essays and commented on each as he was wont to do. When he finished commenting, he, thankfully, told us what he believed to be the answer to the essay question. It was a one-word response: “Calvinism”. The longer version is called “The Protestant Work Ethic.” He even admitted that in a Rodman Catholic seminary where I happened to be studying at that time, that ethic ruled our lives. In many ways it still does, mainly for the better, but not always so.

One of the main reasons why our country as a country has been and still is so great is that our work force is unconsciously ruled by that ethic translated into “an honest day’s work for an honest day’s pay.” Yet it is more than that, and that is the downside of that ethic. We are also told that “an idle mind is the devil’s workshop”. Thus, we should keep our hands to the grind wheel, be busy all the time. The corollary is that pleasure of almost any kind, if not every kind, is somehow somewhat bad and, thus, sinful. That almost but not quite means that even any form of leisure is somehow sinful. We may not believe that but, we in this country, often act that way.

Think about it: most people in what are called “Western” nations take six- to eight-week vacations, find time in the afternoon to relax and rest (called “siestas”), arrive at work later than we do and leave earlier. We work overtime and on weekends, take our laptops on vacation, are always connected to our cell phones and often do not take the vacation days allotted to us. The Protest Work Ethic rules and we allow it to rule, and, again, not for the better much of the time.

Several years later in my seminary education, when I was studying theology over 45 years ago, several daring theologians began writing articles on the theology of leisure. Imagine that: there might be a theological justification for leisure, for pleasure, justification that God would not oppose but would actually sanction! An idle mind may be the devil’s workshop; but a mind and a life that never rests or relaxes is even worse. Is it any wonder so many are so stressed out and then wind up doing harm to themselves, to their loved ones and to those around them?

We are now into the traditional vacation season of the year, a time when we are to vacate our minds and bodies and rest. That time is given to us for our benefit, for our health and well-being. If we allow that ethic that seems to control our lives to continue to do so, we will not make time for rest and leisure and we will be the worse for it and, again, so will all those who are part of our lives, wherever they are a part. The Creation Story at the beginning of the Bible reminds us that God took a day off at the end of his work. God rested. Why should we be any different?