July
A pastor has told of how at his brother's wedding he was so
nervous that instead of saying, "Let us pray," he said, "Let us play."
Actually, it was the perfect thing to say because at the heart of a marriage,
there should be a playfulness, a delight, a joy. It was the perfect
prayer: "Let us play!"
Really, it is a perfect prayer for most all of us any day. God knows, we
have a way of running ourselves ragged, working ourselves to death, taking
ourselves and everything else so seriously, worrying ourselves sick, and wearing
ourselves out. So much so that there is little joy or delight to anything
we do. If ever that is to change, we need to learn to play a bit.
As a matter of fact, it is a very religious thing to do. When King David
brought the Ark of the Covenant into Jerusalem, the scriptures tell us that he
played before the Lord -- he danced and sang and had a marvelous time of it.
When God described how he would renew Jerusalem, he conveyed the glory of it by
saying that the children would play in the streets. The Psalmist tells us
that God made the whale for the fun of it -- to watch it play in the sea.
There is a playfulness at the heart of creation and life itself.
Someone has put it like this: "What is the wind doing in the hayfield?
What is Victoria Falls up to, or the surf along the coast of Maine? What
about the fire going wild in the belly of the stove, or the rain pounding on the
roof like the Hallelujah Chorus, or the violet on the window still leaning
toward the sun? What, for that matter, is God up to, getting the whole
show started in the first place? Hurling the stars around like rice at a
wedding, gathering the waters together into the seas like a woman gathering
shells, calling forth all the creatures of the earth and the air like a man
calling 'swing your partner,' at the hoedown." Playfulness reflects the
very glory of God and is a form of faith.
And now and then it is exactly what we need to do: for a while, not to try to
accomplish or prove anything, not do anything particularly religious or
educational, but just play -- just let ourselves go and have a marvelous time of
it. It is probably one of the best ways to draw near to God, refresh
ourselves, and sense again the wonder of creation and life itself.
So my prayer for us all, particularly as we head into the midst of summer, is
this: LET US PLAY!!
God be with you,
Jeff