Rest is to be Blessed
Naomi Matlow
About Naomi Matlow
I am a writer, editor, and mindfulness educator. My interests and passions range from songwriting to travel blogging to spirituality and philosophy. I hold an MFA from NYU Tisch School of the Arts in Writing for Musical Theatre, and am currently pursuing my MA in Mindfulness Studies at Lesley University.
About Rest is to be Blessed
This poem is about the value of rest and even more so, the spiritual commandment to do so. In resting not only can we reflect, but we can also reorient ourselves to ensure that we are acting in accordance with our values and in pursuit of our dreams.
Rest is to be Blessed
Perhaps we will not know
How much we can grow
If for a short time
We do not lay fallow.
If we can lay our palms open at our knees
The palm trees can do the same.
The fruit can be for them for once
For us, six years has been long enough.
Leviticus has always had
Wisdom to teach us,
But like our very own humbleness and frailty,
We forget.
Rest is to be blessed.
We close our eyes as the land closes shop.
For the land has always been more,
More than a grocery store
of our human indulgences.
More than a worker we are too,
For we see our dreams when we rest.
Dreams as vast as the sprouting wheat fields.
In this jubilee year
May we remind ourselves
The value in simply being,
Not just being to provide.