Normally, the Sabbath is a fairly busy day for me [1]. Of course, when I spent my morning coughing up phlegm, trying not to vomit, and unable to talk at all, I realized it was going to be a Sabbath of convalescing for me, and so I did as best as I could to relax while reading and listening to sermon messages. Anyone who knows me realizes that I tend to be on the go a lot and also treasure those times where I can relax for a few hours, but I do not tend to appreciate being sick because I tend to feel such time is unproductive, if it is necessary at times to rest and recuperate so that one can feel better. So while I do not tend to enjoy laying around, at least I understand that if it makes me feel better faster, it is a worthwhile experience, at least on occasion when I do not want to spread whatever it is I suddenly came down with with others.

Doing a lot of reading (and writing) when one is not feeling well is a bit of a mixed blessing. For example, one of the books I reviewed, a Bible geared towards evangelism, is for a blog tour in January, so it will be some time before others read it. Additionally, when one is sick one doesn’t always feel like one’s mind is at its sharpest or most focused, except perhaps on staying snuggled beneath some warm covers and on a comfy pillow. Not everyone, of course, rests the same way. The Roman politician and philosopher Cicero, for example, was notorious in only being able to rest by keeping himself busy with another activity because he could not keep himself still. I can certainly relate to that, even if I know that we as human beings were not created to go on and on without rest. If we push ourselves too hard for too long, we will find it impossible to push ourselves at all at some point.

Of course, I was not the only person today who had an unexpected rest. I say this somewhat jokingly, as someone who tends to be a fan of college football, that some of the teams playing today (these are not Sabbath keepers, obviously) obviously felt that today was a day of rest by not bothering to show up. Sometimes the shifts of momentum tend to be mystifying to me, how sometimes people and teams can seem to be sleepwalking and how sometimes everything seems to be hitting on all cylinders. This is true in all endeavors, whether sports or work or anything else. Sometimes we need to rest to recuperate and recharge our batteries, so that we can work more effectively the rest of the time. This is so even though for some people it is immensely difficult to be still at all. Sometimes we are faced with no choice but to rest and relax, though.

[1] See, for example:

https://edgeinducedcohesion.wordpress.com/2011/03/12/double-booking-a-sabbath-tale/

https://edgeinducedcohesion.wordpress.com/2014/11/19/people-will-talk/

https://edgeinducedcohesion.wordpress.com/2014/10/08/wheel-in-the-sky/

https://edgeinducedcohesion.wordpress.com/2014/08/03/a-sheltered-cove/

https://edgeinducedcohesion.wordpress.com/2014/05/03/coffee-cake/

https://edgeinducedcohesion.wordpress.com/2013/12/22/i-am-a-moose/

https://edgeinducedcohesion.wordpress.com/2013/12/08/tenderly-in-ages-past-thy-people-hast-led/

https://edgeinducedcohesion.wordpress.com/2013/02/10/not-enough-time/

https://edgeinducedcohesion.wordpress.com/2011/10/22/reflections-on-the-feast-of-tabernacles-2011-in-khun-yuam-thailand/