Today people tend to enjoy being busy. Many bring their work with them wherever they go. The lap-top and iPhone are always on their side. Availability has almost become a religious thing.

Yesterday I tried to work at a café. It normally works very well. I would open my lap-top, order something to drink and just dive into my mailbox. Yesterday this Marketing Manager at the restaurant came over to me. We started talking. After half an hour I started texting, emailing and looking at my screen during our conversation. She was nice but must have been bored.  I got stressed.

People were busy in the old days as well. And they were stressed. They worked hard in the house, on the field, in the factory or at school. The stress related problems in our society are not necessarily related to the numbers of hours people work. Maybe it is more related to the ability to switch to another setting when they in fact are in another setting. The doctor coming home shouldn’t keep worrying about her patients and keep calling the hospital. The teacher shouldn’t keep speaking about his pupils at the dinner table with his kids. The software developer shouldn’t be coding every single available minute or during the night. He will lose his peace and his family.

Stress release is sometimes about putting the responsibility on somebody else and let go. We cannot possibly carry everything all the time. Jesus said something about this – and the meeting attendees weren’t even online:

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”

And he carries the whole world for heaven’s sake!