Lode Baptist Chapel
Time to Relax
THIS IS THE TIME of year in which many of us take a couple of weeks off work,
put our feet up, relax and take time to recharge our batteries. It's part
of an annual cycle and somehow just knowing that weÕre going to have a bit of
time off gives us the motivation that we need throughout the year!
There's a weekly cycle too that's been observed by all sorts of cultures over hundreds and thousands of years. The principle of keeping one day free from work is found in the Bible - and it's there for a reason: "all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy!" Sometimes we can spend so long working for a living that we leave little time to actually enjoy being alive!
The Japanese phenomena of Karoshi, where many people are "dying from overwork", gives us a stark warning of can happen if our lives get out of balance. Recent surveys in this country have shown that British workers are also suffering high rates of stress and depression due to overwork. More than a quarter of working men are suffering from exhaustion and more than a third have trouble sleeping because of pressures at work.
As a minister I work on Sundays Ðbut I almost always take a day off during the week as the principle is an important one. A recent NOP consumer poll showed that three out of four people say they would rather be assured of one day a week to spend with family and friends than to have extra hours to shop on a Sunday, and 87% thought that it is important for family stability and community life to have a common day off each week. For these reasons it was good news that last month the Trade and Industry Secretary Alistair Darling announced that there is to be no change to the current Sunday shopping hours.
The Bible is, amongst other things, an instruction manual for life. The guidelines that we read there are for our own good - and we ignore them at our peril. Nobody ever said on their deathbed "I wish I'd spent more time at the office!"