Siesta

It was hot dirty work, and I needed a rest.  I knew a short siesta would give me enough strength to then get the job done.  We were a bunch of gringos in Monterey, Mexico.  We were putting a new roof on a widow’s home way out in a desert canyon village.  She was very poor, not able to have a concrete and stucco home like most.  Her house was just one large room about five meters wide and seven meters long.  The walls were mud bricks covered with stucco.  The roof was made of long poles with some kind of native plants laid over them, more to keep the sun out than the rain.

The poles had rotted and were caving in, one by one.  The local pastor asked us if we could afford to buy lumber to replace the poles.  Lumber in Mexico is a very precious commodity.  But we bought twelve boards, two by fours, 16 feet long, costing about $400. Mucho dinero!

We brought them to the home, along with a crew of five guys.  First we had to remove all the tree branches from the roof, setting them aside to replace them after we put up the new roof rafters.  That was the dirtiest work ever, and the dirt stuck to our sweat.  Pretty soon we couldn’t tell who was gringo and who was Mexican.

By early afternoon I was pretty exhausted.  The young guys wanted to keep working, putting up the rafters and anchoring them to the top of the walls.  I found some shade and laid down to take a little siesta.  I knew what their response would be, but I could take the ribbing.  But soon I overheard the Mexican pastor say to the young guys, “I want you to know, you have a very wise pastor.  You should pay attention to him.”

I marveled at his statement and wondered why he would say that.  It caused me to reflect on the Mexican custom of taking a brief siesta in the afternoon.  Was it a lazy practice?  Or was it wise?  What do we prove by working long and steady without taking a break or a rest?  And how productive is our work, really, when we strive against the heat of the day, against weariness, just to get done earlier, or out of envy of our neighbor, or perhaps to impress others with our work ethic?  Yes, of course, we all know the Biblical warning against laziness and slothful idleness (Proverbs 6:9-11).  But what about rest and renewal? 

I know how weary and unproductive my body becomes when I press on relentlessly.  I also know how desperately my heart and soul need rest and refreshing, too.  A siesta is a wise thing.  Rest is good for the body, good for the soul.

“So on the seventh day God rested from all his work.”  (Genesis 2:2)

“Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who wait upon the Lord will renew their strength.  They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not faint.” (Isaiah 40:30-31)