Ensuring the Greatest Efficiency
I am reaching back into the archives today. In this frenzied world in which we live, where stuff comes at us from all angles and at breakneck speed, where what was yesterday no longer is today, where there is just no time to quiet our souls, it seems appropriate to re-post this earlier writing.
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Do you have too much to do and not enough time or energy to get it all done? Most of us, maybe all of us if we are honest, would answer yes to that question. We work ourselves to the bone, often neglecting proper diet, exercise, rest, and sleep, soon finding ourselves worn out and unproductive. I don’t know about you, but I find it difficult to have much needed quietness and rest. And even when I am seemingly quiet or at rest, I am not truly quiet or at rest. Does any of that sound familiar to you?
Not only do we need down time to refresh and recharge our body and mind, our soul need rest as well. Our culture regularly tells us, sometimes subliminally and other times in not so subtle ways, that we need to be busy all the time, that idleness is laziness, that idleness is weakness. However, Scripture tells us there is great benefit in times of quietness and rest. In Isaiah 30:15 we read these words – “In quietness and trust is your strength.”
The classic novel Moby Dick written by Herman Melville gives us a wonderful example of the importance of being productive when we need to be productive and being idle when we need to be idle. If you are not familiar with the story, let me quickly summarize the storyline of the book. It revolves around a wandering sailor named Ishmael and his voyage on the whaling ship “Pequod,” commanded by Captain Ahab. On a previous sailing voyage, an elusive and ferocious white whale named Moby Dick destroyed Ahab’s boat and bit off his leg. The story is narrated by Ishmael and tells us of Ahab’s pursuit for vengeance against Moby Dick.
In the chapter titled “The Dart,” the Pequod is in hot pursuit of the whale. This chapter gives us insight into the activity that is taking place on the deck as the captain and his crew rapidly sail out into the raging sea to kill the whale. The entire crew is focused on the task at hand, tensions are high, and by all indications, there is a lot of energy being used, even being wasted.
One member of the crew is charged with killing the whale. That person is the harpooner, and Melville tells us that even when the harpooner is exhausted, he is still expected to “drop and secure his oar, turn around on his center halfway, seize his harpoon from the crotch, and with what little strength may remain, he essays to pitch it somehow into the whale.” Melville goes on to say this, “No wonder, taking the whole fleet of whalemen in a body, that out of fifty fair chances for a dart, not five are successful.” And finally, Melville gives us his reason for such a low success rate, “If you take the breath out of his (harpooner) body how can you expect to find it there when needed most!”
On most whaleboats, the harpooner is actively helping the other crew members, but on Ahab’s boat, the harpooner is relaxed and quietly waiting. The chapter ends with these words; words that speak loudly to us (or at least to me) in this go-go-go culture – “To ensure the greatest efficiency in the dart, the harpooners of this world must start to their feet from out of idleness, and not from out of toil.”
So, make it a priority to balance the rhythms of work, play, and rest in your life. Doing so is not only wise, but also healthy, and it will help “ensure the greatest efficiency” in carrying out your God-given purpose for being on this earth.
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