Sleepless in Suburbia
From Blair's wide-eyed optimism to Brown's bags; has there been a more symbolic change in contemporary British politics? Recently, all eyes have been on Gordon Brown's eyes - or, to be more precise, the weary bags beneath them. Appearing days after his elevation to PM, they have seemingly been expanding ever since.
Is Gordon Brown the man for our time? Perhaps. Is he a man of our time? Certainly. For Brown's tired eyes are empathetically symbolic of the wider sense of fatigue that increasingly defines our caffeine-addicted society. A recent poll revealed that lack of sleep is the biggest health concern for 42% of the population, with another 34% experiencing low-level general fatigue.
Exhaustion has huge social and relational implications. But our relationship to tiredness is paradoxical, a source of shame, indicating our inability to cope; but also a badge of honour, signifying the importance of the work in which we are engaged. Ever noticed that the only time people seem to get work done in films is during an all-night montage in a haze of drink and smoke?
Tiredness is also bringing the church to its knees. In a recent LICC survey of 3,000 Christians in Britain, 55% of respondents identified fatigue as the principal issue affecting their personal and spiritual life. In other words, for many people their feeling of exhaustion is the greatest obstacle to their growth in discipleship.
Clearly, this is an issue that we in the church can't afford to sleep on. Nevertheless, we will want to resist easy (and so ineffectual) answers to the question of how we can re-energise people, releasing them from the fatigue that, left unchecked, can so easily give rise to soul weariness.
Recently, I've been pondering Jesus' words, 'Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest' (Matthew 11:28). We've heard this verse a million times, seen it embroidered on bedroom walls; but the more I've thought about it, the less it seems a glib pietism or an automatically efficacious balm, but, rather, a command. This is not in any way to deny the pastoral heart or intention behind Christ's words, but coming to God, stepping forward in any relationship, is exactly the last thing we want to do when we're tired. Escape seems preferable; we all have desert islands in mind.
But can we afford not to come? Jesus knows there is no place of real peace and re-creation other than in him, but this requires a deliberate choice on our part, not just slipping on a cosy pair of slippers. In our exhausted culture, responding to Christ's invitation to rest is an act of radical obedience, signalling allegiance to a different set of values.
Ben Care
Links
Read Louise Carpenter's recent article on the 'The Exhaustion Epidemic' here
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