PLAY TIME!!!

"If a country is governed wisely...
People enjoy their food, take pleasure in being with their families,
spend weekends working in their gardens,
delight in the doings of the neighborhood."
- Tao Te Ching

This week at Vacation Bible School I have had the joy of leading kids from 4 years old all the way up to adults in outdoor and indoor games. We have had a blast with things like water, balls, balloons, coke bottles, pool noodles, blindfolds, Mentos candy, newspapers, Toilet Paper, beachballs and hair dryers to name just a few. In a word we have gotten to know each other and Jesus better by "PLAYING." For some adults and maybe even a fews kids, play is almost a lost art. But is something our spirit needs to thrive in today's to busy, crazy world.

In today's world, even for we Christians the stress is always there to be a success!
Listen to Lorraine, an independent businesswoman, as she speaks about the cost of a "Successful" life: "You have to give up something to be a success in business. There's not tome for everything. Me, I have very little time for my spiritual life. I don't have a civic life. And I do very little with friendships--anything that doesn't have to do with business. I don't have time to cultivate relationships that aren't profitable." In Wayne Miller's book I am reading entitled "Sabbath," he says, "The problem for most of us is not simply that we work too much, the problem is that we are working for the wrong reward. We reward the fruits of our labor and the sweat of our brow with money, goods, and services." We need to seek a balance he says between money and stuff and time. Especially time to just PLAY. You know, things like, take a walk int he park, grab a nap, play with your kids or grandkids, read a good book, dance, dig in the dirt, cook, visit with friends, play a game just for fun, paint, sing, meditate, journel, or just look deeply into the eyes of someone for whom you care deeply.

After all what really matters? What is success in God's eyes?

Whata' Play?

In Him,
Rev.Richard