' A Handful of rest'

The above view of the lawn visible to me, from where I sit in the quiet room, offers me many surprises during the day. 

The delightful sights begin early in the morning with the sun rays bathing the dew covered grass giving it an adorable look. The fruit trees on both sides in the longitudinal plane, create an appearance of fruitfulness and abundance. 

While watching this sight today, I was drawn by a statement from the writer of the book of Ecclesiastes in chapter 4 verse 6: 'One handful of rest is better than two fists full of labour and striving and wind' !

 

I have the candle burning beside the vase of flowers in the side table! 

As I look out into the courtyard, I feel greeted by the swinging lilies in the gentle breeze of the morning. 

What is this handful of rest! 

The vase of flowers brings the message of freshness, fragrance and fragility of the flowers. The candle through its presence radiates light, offers warmth and dispels darkness. 

Their presence  gives a sense of calm and cheer. The flower will fade away, the candle will get extinguished. In that, both of them have a transience to their presence. 

What made the shepherds on hearing the birth of Jesus leave their sheep and travel about 150 kilometres to greet Jesus arose out of the longing to meet Jesus who was promised to be the messiah and the Prince of peace ! The shepherds kept watch over the sheep over the  night to  protect the sheep. They were people used to labouring and striving. 

This journey to meet Jesus was a respite from their habitual life of labouring and striving. The sense of rest takes a new dimension in this encounter. The rest in this situation sprang from the glad tidings of the good news of seeing Jesus, the prince of peace, lying in a manager. The incarnational presence of Jesus, having been born in a humble way and resting in a manger, brought an emotional equation with the humble state of the shepherds.  

The shepherds who would sleep in the open often using a stone as the pillow, with interruption to their sleep by the intrusion of wild animals to fetch the sheep, needed an affirmation of their worth and value. The angles leading them to meet Jesus was an  experience of having been chosen to have a first hand experience of the peace Jesus brought from the manger. Instead of the bleating sheep that the shepherds were used to, they encountered stillness, serenity and sacred moments. Everything about this Jesus had a link with what the shepherds were used to an yet, He radiated peace.

The lawn is the symbol of the wide expanse of our situations in which we live, move and have our being. That is also a symbol of the labour and striving that was referred to in the verse quoted above. 

The lilies in the garden, the vase of flowers and the candle bring a counter message to the labour and striving that we are used to in our daily living!

 

Each of these symbols radiates or reflects what they are given or blessed with!

The one life we are given to live is also an abundance of the plenty of  the givenness we are blessed with. We are inherently conditioned to live experiencing rest, because we are given and blessed. That was what Mary received as a message from the angel, 'Hail favoured one, The Lord is with you' (Luke1:28).

The rest, inner wellness, delight in being oneself, and composure  to live, and loving and serving, arise from this promise, 'The Lord is with you'.  That is rest. God is with us! Immanuel !

The labour and striving cannot bring rest or the gains from them cannot substitute the state of rest. 

I come back to the lawn ! If that symbolises the arena of life where one is called to live, then the reality is that the Lord is with us. 

That is the reason and source of a handful of rest.  

M.C.Mathew (text and photo)