Does it feel like life or work is too much of a burden? That you’re not getting out what you put in? That too much is expected of you? That somehow you ended up in a situation you never wanted—too much work, too little work, not enough time, not enough fun?
Here’s something that speaks to that feeling. It’s a biblical quote, but stay with me:
“Come to me, all who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest . . . For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” (Matthew 11:28–30)
Now, unlike so many religious interpretations, this is not a call to follow Jesus the man. Remember, Jesus himself prayed for his burden to be lifted.
Who is weary and heavy laden? Anyone who has taken on personal responsibility. Anyone whose identity has become entwined with the limitations of the mind and body. Anyone who (as we’ve been conditioned to do) looks to the world, or to the mind, for rest.
Who will give us rest? Our own true self. Our very nature is peace. We know this, but for the thought that we are separate from peace, from rest. When we see the burden is carried on behalf of a non-existent self—by who we are not—it no longer needs to be carried.
What is an easy yoke, a light burden? It’s effortless effort. It’s working long hours, not to achieve peace and freedom, but as their expressions. It’s disappearing into a creative endeavour for the sheer joy of it. It’s playing full out, in every arena. It’s feeling every sensation, every emotion, yet standing as the awareness by which all feeling is known.
Being tired of life is a call home. Not to fixing the circumstance of life. Not to changing how we think or feel about life. But to the subtle shift of identity, so that who we are is no longer veiled, even in the midst of life.
With Love,
Sara
