happy chatter

Ahhhhh Sunday.  Enjoy it before it's back to the daily grind :-)

So said a page on my facebook news feed this afternoon.  But I don't buy it.

Not the 'Ahhhh Sunday. Enjoy it,' section - I'm enjoying today with the rest of you.  The weather is glorious and I've managed to make it a 'four loads' washing day (they may even all get dry), the garden has a whole lot less weeds than it used to and a friend and I have cleaned a manky fish pond we've been promising to clean for months. I have a sense of accomplishment and satisfaction, and now I even have time to relax a while.

What I don't buy about the above statement is 'before it's back to the daily grind'.  What a drudgery life is for us all if the workaday week is a grind.  And I know for many people it is.  Who hasn't dragged themselves out of bed unwillingly and trudged to work reluctantly?  Who hasn't wished they were home doing things they really want to be doing instead of at work doing what the boss wants?  I know work is like that sometimes, but what a shame if we live to work and work is a grind.  To me, such a life is missing the point of living.  I want to squeeze every drop of deliciousness out of my life.  Jesus said 'I came so they can have real and eternal life, more and better life than they ever dreamed of'*.  He says this, contrasting himself with a thief who comes to take and to ruin.  Jesus is all about life, fabulous life in all its fullness, revelling in every single gift, enjoying moments, being aware, seeing and living beyond the here and now.

I don't think many people live a full life in this sense.  Instead we live lives that are full in that we are too busy to scratch ourselves.  We fill every single minute with a job or activity or duty.  That's not fullness of life.  That's over commitment that can result in a whole lot of unhappiness.

I realise I am writing from a position of wealth and comfort in a western, developed country.  We are rich here and most of us have far more than we need.  Even people earning a pittance have houses full of junk they never use.  I also write from a place of choice.  I have an education and options that many people don't have. I am able to choose to work in a part time role that I love. I can afford to take things a bit slower. However, I am not so well off that I've forgotten most of us have to work to eat.  My dream would be a world where we all have the choice about how we earn our money to eat.  Where we all have sufficient such that we can choose to cut back on work if we want to and appreciate life more. (And for those who love their work, they can continue to appreciate it as many days a week as they like of course!)  Where we all have our needs met to the point of being able to step back and be more aware.  Where we can revel in the things we've been blessed with.

Then even our work ceases to be a grind as we live consciously, mindfully, thankfully and vibrantly.

So let me rewrite the news food:  Ahhhh Sunday.  Enjoy it.  And then enjoy the work you go to tomorrow too.

* John 10:10 MSG