Enacting the Lifestyle of Fallow
I can hear you ask, “So how do I enact a lifestyle of fallow?” The simple answer is to choose one day in seven and as much as possible replace all work with rest and recreation . . . and then the excuses start to fly. But this is a straight forward transaction. If you want the benefits of fallow you much practice fallow. Like most things, what this looks like will be slightly different for each person.
Here’s what it looks like for me right now. I encountered the principle of laying fallow anew about six weeks ago. Oh sure, as a Christian I was quite familiar with the Jewish practice of the Sabbath. But I never considered practicing it as part of my life. Then some things fell into place. The small group my wife and I attend undertook a video study entitled “The Truth Project”. As a part of the component on work, it was suggested that part of living in tune with the world as God designed it to function is to take one day in seven to rest.
As I mentioned three weeks ago, I had gone through a period of lost drive and enthusiasm this past spring. Its end coincided with viewing the segment of The Truth Project on work. I began by sitting down with my wife to see if she was in agreement with enacting one day in seven, she was. I am fortunate in this because practicing a day of rest alone could result in one harboring resentment toward the other.
We decided to choose Sunday. It made sense to us since we already spend Sunday mornings at church and often went to lunch afterward. At first we just came home and watched television and napped. We vegged. For a while this worked but the temptation to just do this one thing and then rest grew until we had to make ourselves stop. We took one Sunday completely off of everything, even church. It hasn’t gotten any easier yet but I anticipate that like most new habits it will.
What has gotten better is the benefit. We have noticed a marked increase in productivity in the six work days. An afternoon nap has become a regular part of our Sundays of rest. I anticipate that at some point a limit on media will become appropriate. It will come as a part of transitioning from vegging to recreating, from simply doing nothing to doing things that refresh and recharge us. I invite you to join us in our experiments in lying fallow. As we make our way along I will periodically update you how we’re doing.