Why do we sleep? I was asking myself this question a few weeks ago. I was particularly busy and I was wondering why we bothered with all this sleeping stuff. I looking over the internet a little bit and as far as I can tell science does not really have a good answer to this one at this time.
Last night I was eating dinner with a friend and she told me how she decided to give up eating one of her favorite foods for the sake of a special intention. I asked her how long she thought that was going to go on, to which she replied, "Until I die if I have to," I told her, "God really doesn't work that way, he is usually actually friendlier than we humans are." I told her she would probably be back to eating her favorite food by sometime next year. God's "Yolk is easy and his burden is light." In my experience we humans tend to be the ones to make things more blood and guts than they actually need to be. I think it is a part of human nature. Maybe broken human nature always trying to atone for things that we cannot.
I was driving home this morning and I was thinking about the prodigal son and imagination. I was thinking about the elder son. In my life I tend to most identify with him. A lot of people like to give the older son a hard time, but I just was not convinced that he was just some jealous/petty person. I felt there was more to the story. I have been reflecting on it all weekend.
At first before the start of the weekend I realized explored the idea that the elder son was actually more respected by the Father. The Father and the Elder son had a more adult relationship than the Father and the younger son. In some sense the Father had to appease the spiritually weak younger son with parties much like a child needs to be entertained with toys. This reminded me of people's conversion stories. In the beginning they are usually very sweet and flowery. Then later things get more difficult. I thought he was simply providing the sons with what they need according to their current spiritual development.
I realized there was a problem though and it was not this simple. - the father wanted the elder son to join the younger son at the party. He wanted him to participate in the fun too. He wanted him to also step away from the labor, he wanted him to go on the retreat. He wanted everyone to take some time off and enjoy life and have the child-like spirit.
Ideally is every conversion is an opportunity for rest and relaxation and celebration for everyone? It may be up to us though whether or not we take it.
I think it is deeper than simply relaxation though. In my own life periods of relaxation after more difficult periods are the time during which we revaluate what we are doing and where we are going. This is the time we plot our new directions. These periods are the rudders of our lives. Small changes here greatly affect where we make our next steps. This is the time at which we are really open to new ideas and creativity. This is the time during which we can take risks. This is where true new innovations and metamorphosis occurs. These periods are times at which we truly transform instead of only making sequential progress. Could every sinners conversion be an opportunity for the whole community to be transformed? The Father calling both sons to the party may be a call for both of them to be transformed and be brought to the next stage of their development. The Father pleads for the older son to go. I think he knows that what the older son is doing is good, but if he keeps up business as usually he will not get a chance to go on to the next stage of his growth. He must go to the party and stop and smell the roses. He must look for the next direction. Much as the younger son has gone through his own hardships now is his time to rest. Both sons have experienced hardships just of a different nature. Both sons have been humbled. One by living with the hogs. The other acting as a servant to the Father. They both must rest and recover. The Father wants them both to grow.
Maybe sleep is God's way of reminding us all of the need to slow down so we can ultimately obtain transformative growth. For many of us, if we could we would never sleep and just do, do, do. For others, sleep is the more natural inclination. There are some who would be happy just sleeping all the time. Day and night remind us of both. There are two sides to the coin. Some people are naturally the Martha's always trying to organize stuff, others are the Mary's just trying to get in experiences. This seems to come up over and over. Dante even maintained Day and Night in Purgatuario - Penitent souls could only travel up the mountain in the day by God's grace. It was like there was an enforced retreat. Learning to rest and enjoy is almost a requirement for learning to live in Paradise even in the demanding purification of Purgatory.
"
But see now how the day is declining, and ascend
by night we cannot; therefore tis well to
think of some fair resting-place.
"
Purgatuario: CANTO VII -
Work and rest are part of the rhythm of life. When we workout we must rest or we risk overtraining. Too much rest leads to losing our edge. In engineering and craftsman ship I find there is a time to put your nose to the grindstone, work hard, and hit the deadlines. There is also a season to step back, relax, and review the literature, explore topics you have never considered, and even just daydream at times. This is why we have sabbaticals for professors. There is a concept of "Fast and slow" thinking that I believe maps to this.
I think the homeless are a witness to this in some sense. I have a policy of picking up hitchhikers to help they go where they need to go. In my experience most homeless people did not get to be homeless by being responsible. They often are very impulsive and somewhat scatterbrained. They often have a tendency toward begin nomads. I am not sure many of them would even want to live in a house if you gave them one. They might just leave. I am pretty convinced there are some people that are just born to be wanderers and would probably never fit into "established" society. These people have a role to play. I think they help remind us that we need to stop and smell the roses and look beyond ourselves. They are almost like the lilies of the field.
Every conversion is a party for everyone - To be happy is to be in tune with the will of the Father. It is a chance to learn to be in tune with the Father.
I think this is part of the message Pope Francis is trying to get across. He is downplaying things that we have held as important for so long. He is downplaying our defensive position. I have felt defensive about Catholisism my whole life. I am tired of it. But I recognize now to go through this metamorphisis we have to let something's go and trust that God will take care of them. This is really scary, but honestly, are we really doing that great of a job of evangelizing the culture right now? I think we are doing a pretty poor job personally. We have tried our best and to some degree failed. It is not futile. Just the first step to humility. Pope Francis is asking us to grow spiritually. As Churchhill said:
" You will never reach your destination if you stop and throw stones at every dog that barks."
When you really think about it all the important social issues we have been arguing over the last 60 years really come down to a root in greed and selfishness. I feel when I was young I realized this but forgot somewhere along the way. The root cause is what needs to be addressed and I am not sure that we have really tried to address it.
Maybe some of us need to step back for a moment and just go with God's flow on this as scary as it might be. Not everything needs to be blood and guts on our part.
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