Burritos
We’ve been talking about Jesus’ invitation to “Come,… learn from me …and you will find rest for your souls.” What new patterns of living does this entail? What secrets to happiness does this invitation hint at? Well, I think it has a lot to do with black bean burritos. Let me explain.
There’s a family-run burrito restaurant near my home that caters to the lunch crowd. The inside is painted autumn-orange with azure blue accents. Leaf-green picnic tables provide seating along with a few bar stools at the counter in the colors of the rainbow. There are thirty seats maximum…if you squeeze six at the picnic tables. Customers choose their beverage from the coolers and then wait in line to place their orders.
A sign cheerfully prepares you for the reality of eating here, “There is only one line for service. Thank you for your patience.” Standing around waiting are those who have already ordered to-go. The rest of us populate the picnic tables or bar stools. As you can tell, this is not a high-brow establishment, but it is a local legend. Between 12 noon and 1:30 p.m. it’s always packed.
Why do I look forward to eating at a crowded, low-brow restaurant where the bar stools have chipped away at the paint on the walls? Certainly it’s not the decor. The service goes quick, it’s true. And the food is great. But I think my enjoyment has as much to do with the sense of playfulness I find on the walls. For you see, past customers have grabbed simple crayons and 8.5 x 11 sheets of white paper and sketched tributes to the burrito they are about to eat.
These pictures line the walls so that only a bit of orange peaks through. It’s not an exaggeration to say that there are 200 different odes to the lowly burrito on those walls. And each one is unique….and usually humorous.
One customer drew a super hero with a burrito emblazoned on his chest. “The Purrr-itos here are purrrfect!” caterwauls a cat with a cheshire grin in a second. In a third a southern belle drawls, “Gone with the burrito.” I am amazed at the variety of burrito-themed praises on those walls.
So what does this restaurant have to do with living a better life? Well, when is the last time you’ve taken crayons in hand and colored anything? What I’m asking is: When is the last time you relaxed enough to play?
What I’m asking is: When is the last time you relaxed enough to play?
Maybe play for you is creating legends in the kitchen. Maybe play for you is doing a puzzle solo or playing tables games with a crowd. Maybe play for you is restoring a classic car. I discovered my husband was a would-be engineer watching him create water moats in the damp sand at the edge of a stream. He was playing and having a good time at it.
I think a life of balance and rest involves creating some time to play. However, when does this actually happen in adulthood?
I think a life of balance and rest involves creating some time to play. However, when does this actually happen in adulthood? Ummmm…on vacation once a year? Well, yes; but two weeks of vacation doesn’t happen often enough for true renewal.
To truly develop a routine that encompasses play, try keeping a Sabbath in your life. Not a “attend church for two hours” Sabbath, but Sabbath that works as a 24-hour pass. No agenda. No work squeezed in on the sly. No bathroom cleaning or checkbook balancing on this weekend day. A day for community, creativity and play. A Sabbath rest. A Sabbath reconnection with those we love.
The kind of Sabbath I’m talking about acts as a buffer from the stresses of our 9-5 job by allowing us just to be.
Allowing time to celebrate Sabbath creates margin in our lives. The kind of Sabbath I’m talking about acts as a buffer from the stresses of our 9-5 job by allowing us just to be. We can be quiet. We can be creative. We can be in community. We can be in song…or in nature. We can be engrossed in what we love, instead of employed by responsibilities we sometimes hate. A sage once quipped, “We weren’t created human-doers, we were created human beings.”
What relief! We can be exactly what we choose to be and NOT what others tell us we have to be. Now that’s the kind of Sabbath I enjoy, and it’s probably also what Christ had in mind when he said, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.”
Why not try a true 24-hour break from the responsibilities that crush? Celebrate a Sabbath and see if you don’t find rest for your souls by learning to play again.
1 Matthew 11:28
2 Mark 2:27
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