Snow days: Ruined work or a chance for leisure?

This past Saturday, Virginia received snow. The leaves aren't even off all the trees yet, but on Saturday we received a good three or four inches of the white stuff. It made the day feel like January instead of October, and it definitely threw a wrench into our plans for the weekend. We had been planning to go out and run several errands (including, ironically, getting Alan a snowsuit). However, as the thick stuff continued to fall we decided to call it a day in. We got in comfortable clothes, made warm drinks, and holed up for the day.

As time went on, though, I began to feel a little cooped up in our one bedroom apartment. I began to notice how the snow was lessening, and how the roads looked a little bit better outside. The temperature outside was starting to rise above freezing, and the snow just wasn't going to be an issue going out any more. Maybe, after all, I could get out to run some errands after all.

Of course, my wife Liz could immediately tell what was going on in my mind. She saw my quick glances outside at the road and noted my ever so casual comments about the good state of the roads. After lunch, I think I might have been beginning to pace because she finally said, "Are you going to go crazy staying in all day?" That's when it hit me, I WAS going crazy staying in all day. I was beginning to fidget from not getting something done, from not going out.

However, being of a contemplative bent, I realized this wasn't good at all. We had made the decision at the beginning of the day to stay inside, and I knew Liz was looking forward to having me home all day. We were having fun watching movies, reading our books, and playing with Alan. So why was I itching to get outside? Where did I really have to go that was so important?

Several times on this blog I have mentioned how important it is to work. I've talked about the necessity of doing the daily duties out of love for God, and about the importance of focusing on the details in work. However, on Saturday I was confronted with the fact that work can also be a temptation - the temptation to constantly accomplish something so as to feel good about yourself. Instead of taking a day of rest with my family, I wanted to get something done simply so that I could say that I did. I was faced with the choice between work and leisure, and my impulse was moving me towards work.

Work, though, means nothing without leisure. Joseph Pieper talks about how leisure and work have gotten totally confused in today's world. Many people view leisure as a time to "reenergize" so that they can work more. Work has become the end of life, the purpose for existing for many people. All human beings suffer from this temptation to one degree or another. However, it is not work that is our end, but rest, leisure. We should be working so that we might have leisure. Without leisure, work becomes a sort of slavery that drives us day in and day out, even when we don't really want it to. What truly constitutes leisure is, of course, of the utmost importance, and our current culture often gets it wrong. It's a rich concept, one that involves the praise of God through the experience of the goodness of His creation. However, my primary topic of this blog post is not what constitutes leisure, but the fact that work is subservient to leisure.

So, on Saturday, after Liz asked "Are you going to go crazy staying in all day?" I finally responded, "No, honey, I'm not going anywhere." Thus, I spent the rest of the day reading the Brothers Karamazov, practicing banjo, and talking with my wife. As I lay down to sleep that night, I realized that my day had been far more fruitful staying in than it would have been had I gone out. Instead of going crazy, I had indeed become more sane. My priorities had been refocused, and I had gained a greater appreciation for the good things in my life. While we human beings can't give up work totally, it is good from time to time to step back and give up work, especially on a snow day.