Out for the Count

There's nothing like a bad bout of bronchitis to knock the wind out of you. It's not the first time this coughing monster attacked me, but I must have blocked out how truly menacing that monster can be. Not that I'm complaining...thankfully I had lots of opportunity for rest....which brings me to this post.

The art of learning how to be unproductive is lost on me, one which is a very necessary art when illness strikes. Rest is the best medicine for beating a bug, but for the personality type like an "energizer bunny" this presents a challenge. Rest is the very antonym of work, but something I'm learning is that both are redemptive.

Our work can be offered to God and our rest can be offered to God. Sometimes one can be more meritorious over the other if we are not inclined to it. For most that would be work, for myself that is rest. I don't know why it's hard to rest because I do enjoy having fun and leisurely activities, but maybe because they are activities. Being sick is the most inactive form of life I think there is...in the physical sense.

In the spiritual sense, being sick can be the most active state there is. And this got me thinking. Impatience often creeps up on us when we feel like we are "wasting time" or simply can't wait. We are never wasting time if we are united to Our Lord at every moment. Be that work or rest, suffering or pleasure, it is redemptive when we offer it up.

So even when you're out for the count and feeling like sickness is eating away at your valuable time, an interesting perspective is that may be the most valuable time you are given, a chance to accept what comes to you and give it back to God.