Blogger: Etta Wilson
Location: Books & Such Nashville office
Weather: 35 degrees, sunny
The other day I heard a commentary with a biblical perspective on time and our use of it. In Genesis 1 we hear over and over in the creation story that “there was evening” and “there was morning” or “there was night” and “there was day.” Only in recent times have we had enough light at night via electricity to significantly decrease or reverse our sleeping hours from the original natural order, and as a result, we may have lost the biblical sense of rest and work. When we work, we really need to be working, and when we rest, we need to put all work aside and really rest. This week let’s consider how to draw the lines more clearly.
I can’t help thinking that just as electricity has given us the means to light up the night, now it has given us electronic media, which also dims the division between work and rest. When I open up my browser, I see all the tempting, juicy news tidbits and online ads that will only take a few minutes to check. Wasn’t I planning to go straight to the manuscript I needed to read? I may not be living in the God-given rhythm of work and rest for which we were created. I think I’ll sleep on that!
OH I hear you! Before I began writing, I was never a night owl…that soon changed as I got hooked on writing.
I literally have to put my computer out of my room, otherwise, I see that battery light flashing bright then dim….. **smile**
Looking forward to this week’s posts.
Thank you, dear Etta, for reminding me about something I forget — it was the Lord who established times and seasons. In reading the book of Ecclesiastes I noticed how prevalent a theme that is.
I’m wondering what other readers and writers think about writing in the daylight hours. On the one hand, winter would be a time to rest and catch up on sleep. But would the productivity of writers be lessened? I’d like the opinions of Etta and others on this — could we expect the Lord to give us extra efficiency?
Latayne C Scott
http://www.latayne.com
novelmatters.blogspot.com
Latayne, often it’s the lack of balance in a writer’s life that leads to panic when the deadline is about two weeks away. So while taking time to rest is important to keep the creative juices flowing, an overabundance of rest once a deadline is set leads to an overabundance of work at the other end. The sabbath rest of 1/7 of the week gives us a good guideline about how to order our lives. And maybe out days. Maybe we should schedule rest for 1/7 of every day. As Etta said, though, what’s rest for some of us would be work for others. (For example, I’d put exercise in the “work” category!)
Latayne,
You post a good question, “On the one hand, winter would be a time to rest and catch up on sleep. But would the productivity of writers be lessened?”
For those of us who have “day jobs” outside the writing world, I do feel my productivity would lessen. I often write “after hours” into the wee hours of the morning….
BUT, we DO need rest….so yes, it’s a quandary.
Ah, Latayne, you went right to the heart of the matter! Thanks for spurring me to think more. I have wondered when Jesus rested, especially in times of crisis such as the Garden of Gethsemane when the disciples could not stay awake. I need to read that account and several others again.
Etta
When I was a youth, I was very driven, and there never seemed to be enough time to complete my projects. I can remember saying to my mother, “Just think of all the things we could get done, if only we didn’t have to eat and sleep.
Now, I’m so glad God put rest into the equation–food, too for that matter.