Advocating Rest

Thoughts about the frantic pace of life have filtered through my head recently. Why am I so busy, when I don’t have mound of homework and papers hanging over my head? I’m just as tense as when I was in school, just as prone to anxiety about (relatively) lesser things… why? Why am I living like this?
I thought Offner’s article was honest about busyness. Both affirming and piercing, getting to the root of the problem… the suggestions at the end are helpful…

Why Are We So Busy?
by Kevin Offner

….We bow to the "Idol of the Full Schedule" because it gives a superficial, temporary legitimacy to our lives.

When we accomplish a lot we feel important, needed and necessary. We set ourselves dozens of daily goals, and if we meet most of them we feel successful. We long for a daily reassurance that we are loved - and we turn to a kind of "activism" to meet this need. We say we believe in grace, we say we believe that God's love is unconditional and that our justification in him is not based on our works, and yet in practice we live as though we've been abandoned or orphaned. We're convinced we must work in order to be approved.

Of course the point is not to exchange busyness for inactivity. Work is a good thing: God gave Adam and Eve work to do in the Garden even before they sinned. Also, we are told in the "Parable of the Talents" that it's the wise investor of one's abilities who will one day be rewarded. Our Lord Jesus himself was hard at work from sunrise to sunset. No, we don't need to stop working; but we may be pursuing the wrong work. We are to be busy or not busy because of obedience to God's call, not because of a nervous striving for self-worth. Knowing in our heart of hearts that we are fully accepted and loved by God in Christ, we do whatever work God calls us to do out of joy, peace and gratitude. Part of growing in grace, then, is to know what one's work is, when to work and when to rest. And we'll know this more surely as we grow to know God better.

We want to work voluntarily and enthusiastically, in response to God's initiative, not our restlessness. And we want to learn how to rest. Here are a few practical steps to take:

• Guard time alone with God. The Lord Jesus was as busy as anyone and yet it was his habit to arise "a great while before dawn" to pray.
• Guard the Sabbath. Let's be ruthless in keeping at least a day a week free, a different day from the other six. No scheduling of meetings, no homework and no agendas. A day to focus on God in a special way. A day to slow down, take inventory and be spontaneous.
• Always schedule large gaps between activities when possible. Get to places and appointments early and use that extra time to become quiet inside.
• Be as "fully present" as possible at each activity or with each person. Avoid turning to past conversations or future concerns, but rather give undivided attention to the immediate present.
• Spend more time in deliberate reflection. After conversations with people, at night before going to sleep and on your Sabbath day (Sundays are great for this!), ask deeper questions: what was the significance of that person's remark? That movie's main theme? or That class assignment's bigger issues? Write in a journal, write letters to others, reflect with close friends and meditate under God's eye. Always be open to what you might learn from God's providence by being a careful observer of life's experiences and people.

Let's be honest with ourselves and face the real reasons why we feel so compelled to busyness. And then, by God's grace, let's resolve to make better choices with how we use our time.

More goat news

Goat cheese factory creates opportunities

by Maria Sadoyan - World Vision Armenia Communications

A deserted canteen transformed into a goat cheese factory began operations recently, holding out the promise of wide-ranging community transformation for 600 villagers in remote southern Armenia.

The families of Halidzor village in Sisian Area Development Programme (ADP) will sell goat milk to the factory, which will in turn sell cheese in the Armenian capital of Yerevan, 220 kilometres to the north.

The provision of goat milk is possible as a result of a World Vision breeding project launched in December 2005. Goat cheese is highly rated in the market and is sold for US$7 per kilogram.

“The income from selling cheese in external markets will be invested in renovation of the village kindergarten and other community projects, which the villagers will prioritise,” said Emma Kajoyan, Sisian ADP Manager.

Villagers are proud of the factory, which is the only real technology and means of sophisticated production in the village. Most of the village residents are subsistence farmers.

The goat breeding project was introduced by community volunteers in the village and supported by Sisian ADP with 100 purebred she-goats distributed among ten families. Preference was given to families with many children.

The families signed an agreement with World Vision to return five goat kids and 100 kilograms of goat cheese to the community after one year. “Our project is a development and cooperation programme,” explained Ashot Babayan, Sisian ADP Project Coordinator.

Mher Parsyan, 55, the head of a family of seven adults and six children, has bred seven kids from ten goats. “My grandchildren now have excellent milk and cheese to eat. I'll be glad to see other families in the village who also benefit from this project.”

Homemade cheese produced in villages typically does not meet sanitation standards for sale in commercial markets.

Vanik Simonyan, a community volunteer, had the idea to build a small cheese factory. He knew an experienced cheese-maker, Albert Gevorgyan, from a nearby village who gave several weeks of time training another Halidzor volunteer, Armen Harutunyan.

Now Armen runs the factory equipped with World Vision’s support and repaired by the communal efforts of Halidzor villagers. They believe the factory may provide a good example for establishing similar productions in Halidzor.