Article October 1, 2012 Issue

Recharged and rejuvenated

Paul Grimes

Have you ever been tired and felt like you just deserved a break? Let’s say you have been at a job for years and it is beginning to weigh you down. A few weeks ago I was feeling this way. I have been doing what I do for 40 years without a break and I was just feeling pretty “blah.” I could go on with the ailments that were clinging to me, but I guess I just felt I needed a little pity.

A couple of days later, I was reading from Deuteronomy and came across this passage: “And I have led you forty years in the wilderness: your clothes are not waxen old upon you, and thy shoe is not waxen old upon thy foot” (29:5). I thought, “My goodness—40 years in a wilderness and no wear and tear.”

Well, as I thought about my complaint a few days earlier—feeling wear and tear after 40 years in my work—I realized it is impossible to be worn out. Why? Because I knew that rest was a spiritual kind of quenching. In other words, as I changed my thought I could feel rested in a newness of how I perceived things. It was impossible to be worn out by my work, which I love so much. The one thing that always keeps me joyous is knowing I can help someone—and let me tell you, that always leaves me feeling free and grateful.