Leisure & labor
“The first principle of all action is leisure” says Aristotle. Many of us are embarrassed if we ever find ourselves doing nothing, because we are programmed to believe that only the people who are always working, with endless busyness and hustle are the ones who will make it, while the rest of us will be left behind. It is true that having a good work ethic is important in life, but it is very essential to have a healthy balance between labor and leisure in life. It’s funny how we sometimes are proud of the fact that we are burning out instead of rusting out, however we forget that either ways we are ‘out’.
Charles Swindoll says “In our work worshipping world, learning to enjoy life is no small task. Many have cultivated such an unrealistic standard of high-level achievement that a neurotic compulsion to perform, to compare, to produce, to accomplish the maximum has taken control of their lives. Getting with it twelve to fifteen hours a day is now the rule rather than the exception. Enough is no longer enough.”
It’ funny how we sometimes are proud of the fact that we are burning out instead of rusting out, however we forget that either ways we are ‘out’.
There is now a growing body of literature that emphasizes a balance between productivity and leisure. My hope in this article is to help us understand the importance of leisure without encouraging laziness. Ken Smith of Christian Stewardship Ministries says “Hard work is a virtue, but only when balanced by leisure. Leisure is part of God’s agenda for us, part of our becoming what and who God wants us to be.”
Our life was designed to maintain a healthy balance between labor and leisure, one without the other is totally meaningless.
Leisure as many of us presume is not inactivity, it is not the absence of activity; the Oxford English Dictionary defines leisure as “the freedom or opportunity to do something specified or implied”. Thus leisure is the freedom we earn by successfully completing our labor for the day or for the week to indulge in doing something purely for pleasure. Our life was designed to maintain a healthy balance between labor and leisure, one without the other is totally meaningless.
“Leisure is free activity. Labor is compulsory activity. In our labor we meet the objective needs and demands of others- our employer, the public, people who are impacted by and through our work. But in leisure we scratch the subjective itches within ourselves. In leisure our minds are liberated from the immediate, the necessary. As we incorporate leisure into the mainstream of our world, we gain perspective. We lift ourselves above the grit and grind of mere existence” says Charles Swindoll.
Aristotle repeatedly emphasized the importance of leisure (schole). He says “We give up leisure in order that we may have leisure, just as we go to war in order that we may have peace.” Thus according to Aristotle, leisure is the goal of our labor or busyness. Leisure not only gives us a chance to step back and enjoy or celebrate our past achievements, but also recharges our batteries to be more effective or productive in the future. It is very interesting to study the life of our savior in the gospels; he was fully engaged in his Father’s work most of the time, but was never burned out because he always maintained a healthy balance between labor and leisure. He intentionally got away from the demands of the people and said to his disciples “Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest” (Mark 6:31). If Jesus honored leisure, I guess we do not have much choice unless we think we are greater than him.
Jesus was fully engaged in His Father’s work most of the time but was never burned out because he always maintained a healthy balance between labor and leisure.
– – Author: Rev. Francis Burgula – –
