When I was a kid, there was a predictable response from my mother when folks asked how she was doing.
“I’m tired,” she would say.
Well, it was no wonder. She arose early to get breakfast ready and then headed off to teach school each day.
She came home with papers to grade, supper to make and kids to bathe. And then she got up the next day and did it all over again.
I hear the same reply now from other relatives. Some don’t work outside the home; some do. Some have toddlers; some don’t. But they’re all tired.
The other day a passage from the Bible seemed to light up: “Come to me, all who are weary, and I will give you rest."
Our family always took summer vacations, seeking a respite from everyday life -- but as soon as we got home, everything came crashing down again. And just moments after unpacking the car and going through the mail, my mother was once again weary.
Sometimes the repetitive cycle of life really can wear you down. There’s the big pile of crisp, clean laundry, which suddenly morphs into a dingy mountain waiting to be washed again.
There’s the nice, full refrigerator that empties itself overnight. There are beds to make and cakes to bake. And even with all the labor-saving devices, we are tired.
Worse yet, there is an underlying fatigue that weekend getaways can’t cure.
This exhaustion deepens on sultry days when the heat index explodes into the 100s. Folks taking their last escape on Labor Day weekend may find themselves sitting in traffic, wondering if it’s worth it.
Returning to the office, they'll face the inevitable questions from co-workers about how they’re doing.
“Fine,” they will say, but what they really mean is, “Still tired.”
What kind of weariness does that biblical passage talk about? It could be the physical kind, of course, which comes from toiling in the sizzling sun or running after toddlers.
But there also is a spiritual fatigue that haunts us. It’s the sense that we’re fed up with scary headlines. We are tired of hearing about gloom and doom. We are tired of being tired.
“Come to me,” Jesus says.
That means we have to take the first step. For some, it may be opening the Bible and reading it for the first time ever. For others, it may be returning to church after many years and uttering a heartfelt prayer.
It’s worth it, though, because the rest the Lord promises isn’t the temporary kind you get from sitting on the beach. The respite God promises comes at a much deeper level.
It’s the assurance that no matter how weary you may be, there is someone who will help you bear the burden. And he’ll never get tired of doing that.
Lorraine Murray’s latest books include “Death of a Liturgist,” a mystery set in Decatur, and “The Abbess of Andalusia,” a biography of Flannery O’Connor. Her email address is lorrainevmurray@yahoo.com.
About the Author
