Rediscovering Play
Brianna Lambert
There are joys fashioned within you. They sit quietly while you run errands and check off todo lists, but occasionally they catch the spark that pulls them surging to the surface. The instigator differs for each of us. For some it might be the scent of a plank of Bolivian walnut, for others the distant call of the wood thrush, or the unboxing of a new puzzle. We might feel our joy surge with the possibility of a new novel or the grid of an empty sudoku table. Anne of Green Gables found delight in a perfectly crafted name.“ When I hit on a name that suits exactly it gives me a thrill. Do things ever give you a thrill?” she asked( L. M. Montgomery, Anne of Green Gables).
Yes, they do. I feel that thrill when I clip on my thirty-pound backpack and head out for another day on the trail. I feel it atop the pavement that pushes against my feet for one more mile in my run. It stirs my spirit while turning another single-crochet stitch or crafting a poem. That same feeling turns my mouth into a beaming grin as I sit in the audience of a musical or catch my ducks dipping their beaks into the water for a drink.
Your hobbies accomplish the same. They ignite within you deep joys that satisfy the purposes your Father forged within you. Unfortunately, we often don’ t get the opportunity to understand this because we’ re too busy feeling guilty about our play. We listen to the whispers in the back of our mind that tell us we’ re only being lazy and unproductive. Sound familiar? In order to adequately appreciate the way you and I were created to play, we must first throw off some common misconceptions.
But I Don’ t Want to Be Lazy
Many of us worry that taking part in our hobbies means succumbing to idleness. Nobody wants to be lazy. The book of Proverbs reminds us often of the dangers of the sluggard( Proverbs 10:4; 13:4; 18:9). Other verses warn against excessive sleep, encourage us to look to the diligent ant, and remind us to work heartily unto the Lord
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