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This week, an e-mail from an analyst at a well-known investment bank in New York was leaked to, and reported in, the press. It was addressed to students who were about to begin their summer internship (the glorified version of work experience that’s becoming the norm here in the UK as much as the US): “We expect you to be the last ones to leave every night, no matter what,” wrote the analyst. “I recommend bringing a pillow to the office... the internship really is a nine-week commitment at the desk …” Apparently he continued, “An intern asked for a weekend off for a family reunion – he was told he could go. He was also asked to hand in his BlackBerry and pack up his desk … Play time is over and it’s time to buckle up.” It’s hard to see where the black humour of his words end, and the truth begins, but in a sense that’s what’s often disorientating. The number of intelligent, well-formed people I’ve spoken with who are afraid to take a break or leave work promptly because of the half-jokey remarks they’ll receive, betrays a mindset that’s still worryingly prevalent. It’s not that there’s anything wrong at all with hard work, but it’s the lack of permission we give each other, and ourselves, to find a rhythm in which to flourish, that’s concerning. Because we’re not computers; we’re creatures, who live in a natural world of seasons and cycles, and our energy flows and ebbs. The Bible places humanity in a rhythm of work and Sabbath rest. And while Genesis says that God rested from his work on the seventh day, that Sabbath is also the first full day that we people happened to be around (created as we were, in the story, on day six). So there’s a principle from that story - of being, with God, in the beginning, before doing anything else - which I think could help in our culture of burnout. If we see our rhythm as working from rest, and not vice versa, our rest becomes less about recovery, or physical survival, and much more about starting from a place of poise and purpose. Like a well-spring, the actions of our life can then be the natural overflow of a deeper Source we draw from in the first place - of mental, emotional and spiritual energy; of wisdom, values, love. “The wise person,” says the Book of Proverbs, “draws from the well within.” Working from rest, then, isn’t just good for us, but for the nature and quality of our work. And you don’t have to have a job or an internship to apply that principle. The work of our lives matters - and the invitation, or the calling, is surely not to look busy - but to make our life’s work as creative, imaginative and transformative as it can be. And that, for me, is buckling up.