I sit at my apartment table, plugging away on my laptop for hours. It’s only Monday, but it feels like I’m already behind. Finally, around 1pm, I reach a stopping place and heat up some homemade stew. Lunchtime at last!

The microwave dingdingdings! and I cup my hands around the turquoise bowl, feeling the heat seep into my fingers. As I take my lunchtime seat, I realize I’m facing the window; my laptop faces away from me. Outside, the sun dapples light on the wall of trees—the second sunny day in a string of rainy ones. Contented, I breathe in the air from the open window.

But then, the old, weird fear creeps over me: what am I going to do while I eat lunch? Watch an episode of a show? But which show? Make another dent in Mistborn? No, it’s a beautiful hardcover. Best to keep it away from stew. Listen to music that reminds me of my book? Journal? Already did that. What, then? Don’t waste this time! I hear in my head.

Almost like defeat, I pull up YouTube. Watch the new Ryan George sketch. I chuckle along. When the video ends, though, I feel emptier than when I was hungry. Not because the sketch isn’t funny, but more like I gave up on something beautiful. Peace, maybe. Rest—absolutely.

I’m willing to bet that my experience is not unique. We often joke about how “sleep is for the weak” and  the convenience of eating snacks in your dorm rather than braving the walk to the MAC for dinner. But that’s not really what I’m talking about. You can look up any articles about the importance of sleep and healthy eating (hint: Circadian rhythms, y’all). I’m talking about

Bone

Deep

Rest.

The feeling of entitlement concerning entertainment is real. You finish a paper, submit it on eLearning, and automatically think, “I’ve earned another episode of the new Star Wars show!” You watch it and feel ready to do another project, and then watch another episode, then do a small amount of studying, leading yourself along like holding your own carrot on a stick.

There’s nothing wrong with watching Star Wars (even the sequels. We are not called to judge.) or watching a movie as a reward for hard work. However, the lines between rest and entertainment grow increasingly blurred the more we follow a work-reward mindset, rather than a work-rest mindset. Imagine if the Lord had said, “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you entertainment” (Matthew 11:28) That would be disappointing, wouldn’t it?

A work-reward mindset is based on Behaviorism, a theory made famous by a chap named B.F. Skinner. He hypothesized that humans were just like the pigeons and rats he experimented on: rather than an internal desire for learning, or a heart for understanding, humans sought a simple treat after accomplishing someone’s task. Sounds scary, doesn’t it? Maybe even a little…familiar?

Let’s not be pigeons, my friends. God made us for so much more than that.

What is rest, then? That depends. What refreshes you? What makes you feel whole? What brings beauty to your soul? Start by putting your devices away and praying, “Lord, thank you for this time. May it bring you glory as I rest in your Presence.” You might stay there, sitting in the Presence of God, meditating and praying or reading your Bible.

Or, you might ask your friends if they’d like to go to the park with you and talk about anything and everything. Rest might look like writing. Perhaps you’d had a short story idea rattling around your head all day, or a daily highlight– even a spur-of-the-moment, stream-of-consciousness, no-filter poem-y thing that reveals a lot about your state of mind that you hadn’t considered before. (You can go to God with that, too).

It might look like going to the SVAS open studio and painting your heart out. Making blackout poetry from a book you don’t like (I mean, not a textbook, but like. That old copy of Catcher in the Rye you own, maybe). Rest might even be knitting a scarf for a friend while listening to your favorite true crime podcast. Or spending 5 minutes just petting your cat when you visit on the weekend.

Or, yes—rest can be watching the old Phineas and Ferb Second Dimension movie for old time’s sake.

There is a distinct difference between rest and entertainment. Entertainment can be rest at times, but the two are not synonymous.

Let’s take time this semester to thank God for giving us both. Then, let’s pray for discernment to know what paths to take.

“The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.

He makes me lie down in green pastures.

He leads me beside still waters

He restores my soul.

He leads me in paths of righteousness

for his name’s sake.” – Psalm 23: 1-3