The energizer bunny thumped across my TV screen the other night. It just keeps going and going says the announcer. On the one hand how awesome for Energizer that they can produce a long-lasting battery—that’s pretty cool. On the other hand, I found myself annoyed by the bunny’s noise and incessant banging that just keeps going and going. And then I thought, gosh… how many times have I heard this annoying bunny become a positive image for resilience and a congratulatory phrase for how someone we know just keeps going and going. Why, she’s just like the energizer bunny. And we all nod with awareness and wonder. Assuming that’s a good thing.
As I thought more about the energizer bunny, I literally went down a rabbit hole. We live in a world that doesn’t stop. We work shifts around the clock. We have access to light 24 hours a day. We receive market and business news from around the world at all hours of the day. We have fast food so we can eat and move to our next appointment at the same time. Productivity keeps going and going. This year’s bottom line has to out pace last year’s. We are addicted to work. We can even throw back a shot of espresso, get all the benefits of aroma, taste and caffeine—in, out, gone, next. This is especially useful for morning commuters it’s all about keeping ourselves going and going.
This is the normal human pattern of activity in most parts of the industrialized world. We’re all expected to operate like the energizer bunny that just keeps going and going, banging away at our work. And for the most part we are rewarded for it. But a what cost? The pharmaceutical industry loves the energizer bunny because it busies itself by creating anti-depressants, sleep aids, pain suppressors, cold remedies so, we can all get back to work, be our normal productive self and keep going and going. But what about the breakdown of marriages, turn key kids, coronaries, high blood pressure, panic attacks, strokes, burnout, and chronic fatigue… pharmaceuticals merely numb the symptoms, they don’t make them go away. Fact is, humans need rest. There’s no denying it… rest serves our immune systems, restores our body, and provides us with over all well-being.
When I read the words from today’s gospel, I feel myself melt. I need that kind of rest. I need to lean into God, into my spiritual practice, into the wisdom of my Judeo-Christian tradition, into the awareness that even Jesus rested and so did God.