on Billy Joel wisdom

I remember driving home once after seeing my favorite band perform live. I'd waited all my life to see them, and it finally happened.

You probably know how it feels after a concert like that. I had lightning-esque, energized adrenaline positively racing, galloping, scouring through my veins (and my body). I felt as though I could channel electricity itself.

It feels something like this.

Even though it was after midnight, and I needed to wake up early the next day because I was standing in a friend's wedding, my body DID NOT want to sleep. My body wanted to ride the concert high as long as I could.

But, I needed to sleep. My body said no, but my brain said yes. And my brain was right.

The next day would be long. So I forced myself to embrace stillness. I stared at my bedroom ceiling, waiting for sleep to eventually float down upon me, even while my ears rang with the residue of sing-along anthems from just a few hours earlier.

A younger me would've ignored this wisdom. "Let's stay up all night -- we gotta ride this wave!" my reasoning might've shouted.

Sometimes, we have to force a wiser way to live upon ourselves than our body may crave for us in a moment. You will re-learn this truth of life, if you've learned it before. I will have to re-learn it too. Our Lord God created us to regularly need sleep, decent food, a regular amount of actual sunshine, friends, silence, prayer, community, human touch, laughter, all that. To be human, in other words. We need times of serious rest to follow times of serious work. And yes, we're made to work well and diligently. But we're not made to work nonstop.

One of the numerous reasons why I love Billy Joel's song 'Vienna' (from the 'The Stranger' album and yes, the '13 Going on 30' movie -- an enduring, iconic film for its genre) is its implicit call and reminder of this eternal truth. The lyrics positively teem with this wisdom.

"Where's the fire, what's the hurry about? You better cool it off before you burn it out..."

"Slow down, you're doing fine..."

"You can't be everything you want to be before your time..."

"Take the phone off the hook and disappear for awhile / it's alright, you can afford to lose a day or two..."

Dear reader: if you've recently wrapped on an exerting season of life, it would do you much good to coast a bit and take your foot off the gas (beyond the point where you feel moderately rested). If you can, it'd be wise take the notifications off your phone, to disappear for awhile.

To play a video game you've already conquered.

To take a nap with a family pet (preferably your own family pet, not some random, feral, goofy-eyed possum from the nearby creek).

To walk in the sun. To reset. To build something useful with your hands, just for the fun of it.

To re-read a favorite book. To play a board game.

To force your body, mind, and heart to adopt -- and stick to for this time -- a purposefully slower pace of getting through a day.

To fall asleep praying.

[Incidentally: have you ever held a baby? Maybe it's your newborn cousin, or an older sibling's firstborn child. If a baby (that's not yours) falls asleep in your arms, it feels like a huge, huge compliment -- because it is. It means the baby feels safe with you. Imagine this scenario next time you fall asleep while praying to God -- sleep is a natural response for someone to do when they feel safe and secure in in the presence of another.]

Rest up, y'all. We'll gather back on the other side of the new year.