Time to Play

June 2009

One of my favorite ways to start a weekend retreat is with a certain guided meditation someone sent me years ago. With everyone sitting in a relaxed position and breathing deeply and quietly, I invite participants to imagine themselves near a cool mountain stream. They listen to the gurgling water, feel the crisp mountain air, and enjoy the feeling of being away from their everyday world.

Once everyone is nice and relaxed, I read the line that stops everything cold: “Look now at the water. The water is clear,” I say quietly, “and you can easily see the face of the person whose head you are holding under the water. Look! It’s the jerk who caused you all this stress!” Heads pop up, quiet breathing turns to gasps of surprise, and people wonder if they actually heard what they think they heard. Most are afraid to laugh until the first person giggles, and then the room explodes in laughter. I take that opportunity to remind people that retreats are not about being seri­ous every moment. God delights in our laughter and our play as much as our serious contemplation.

I worked hard to learn this lesson. Some years ago a spiritual director who thought I was taking the world entirely too seriously suggested that I drop my spiritual practices for the summer and make play my prayer. I had absolutely no idea what she was talking about. None. Which was, indeed, evidence that I was not getting my minimum daily allowance of play.

So I put my usual spiritual practices aside for the summer and tried to relearn what it meant to play. I went to baseball games. I occasionally put aside my work and just hung out with friends. I read a bunch of lightweight summer books, the kind that don’t require much focus. I went to concerts and outdoor summer theatre productions. In other words, I had a good time and found a better balance between work and play.

By the end of the summer I actually missed my regular spiritual practices, the same ones that had earlier felt like more tasks to be checked off on my to-do list. When I took them up again, it was with renewed energy and delight. They felt like special time with God, instead of something to get done and crossed off the list for the day.

So let me issue you the challenge my spiritual director issued to me: Take some time out to play this summer. Go to a ballgame. Play with a puppy or a kitten. If you’ve forgotten how to play, consult some children. Go to the beach and make a sand castle. Attend the county fair and ride the Ferris wheel or the roller coaster (if you’re braver than I am). Go to a drive-in movie, or a square dance, or an outdoor theatre. Make play your spiritual practice for the summer by noticing the ways in which God is present—in others, in yourself, in the world around you—as you play, and by imagining God’s enjoyment as you delight in creation.

Debra K. Farrington is a retreat leader and has written eight books of Christian spirituality. Her Web site is www.debrafarrington.com.