"Refueling in Mid Air": Learning How To Rest While Working Hard

One of the things I learned while hanging out with the Benedictine Sisters is to appreciate how hard they work. Every single task they do is with God---Singing in Church, Setting the Table, Greeting a Guest. Since I've been home, I've up my work output significantly. Even when I'm tired, even when I'm crappy. I get out of the cozy bedroom that I've been hanging out for five months with my newborn and I do the yucky grunt work that has been mostly gathering dust since I went on bed rest in September.

To my shock, I've found that once I get over the painful start of "Oh my goodness, its been another night of no sleep", I do feel better after I get some small tasks accomplished. Work is restful. More restful, than sitting still and watching TV, drinking coffee, reading the internet, or complaining about how little sleep I get with a newborn in my house.

It doesn't make any sense to me that small amounts of proper, focused work for God can make me feel better than totally relaxing after a hard night with my baby.

I've starting calling this God paradox "refueling in midair."

Work is prayer. Prayer is rest.

The Benedictine Sisters taught me to "work at prayer, and pray during work."

In Tennis, it's always better to play tennis with someone significantly better than you. I think that principle applies also to the spiritual life. Whenever I hang out with someone significantly higher than me on the spiritual plane, I am so excited. I feel like I come back to my regular life with six new power serves. Thank you Benedictine's for being a place of focus and encouragement in the world!