How do you look at religion? Is religion a burden you have to bear, or is it more of a release from burdens? I don’t mean theoretically, I mean by your own observation of the religious people you know. As a person becomes more religious, is she more or less happy? Jesus made a short statement on this; it is found in Matthew’s 11th chapter:

All things are delivered unto me of my Father: and no man knows the Son, but the Father; neither knows any man the Father, except the Son, and he to whomever the Son will reveal him. Come unto me, all you that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and you shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.

I am not so sure that modern man really appreciates this in these days of five-day work weeks and eight hours a day of work—and work that is not at all physical in many cases. Jesus spoke into a world of hard labor. He spoke to people who worked a twelve-hour day, six days a week—if they were lucky. But then there are other kinds of burdens, as well—like fear and anxiety. I suppose these words of Jesus still resonate with us in the 21st century. The words rest, and easy, and light sound awfully good to me when things aren’t working out as I wish they would. Is religion hard or easy? Well, at times, Jesus suggests it is hard, and here he says his yoke is easy. Which is it, really?