Come Out to Play!

“Can you come out to play?” 

I haven’t heard that lately.  Have you?  Come out to play…what does that even look like?  This seems like a foreign concept in life as an adult.  How would you respond if I invited you to come out and play?  Why are we so spent doing tasks, chores, responsibilities and to do lists?  I am the worst about work before play and the work never seems to end, so play often eludes my life.

 Play is to exercise or employ oneself in amusement, recreation or sport that is not to be taken seriously.  If invited out to play, what would I do?  I am not sure what would amuse me, refresh me or afford me enjoyment and relaxation.  For children, play can be very active with running, jumping and adventure; other times play is calm, dreamy and peaceful, but what does it look like for an adult to play?

 In the book, The Rest of God, Mark Buchanan offers the idea, “Some grown-ups have neglected play so long, they’ve lost all instinct, all reflexes, all capacity for it.  Maybe you’re one of them.  Start slow.  Try a card game, or saddle yourself up on a park swing and see how high you can go.  Read a book different from this one: a twisty-turny thriller, or a fluffy romance.  Or a comic book.  Watch a Monty Python movie, or an old Peter Sellers one.  Dance (p. 144).”  I might be accused of neglecting play.  I definitely don’t schedule it like all the other things in my life.  With my list of things to do never ending…how do you best lay that aside and just play? 

 I heard once that recreation is the recreating of you.  This recreating is designed to bring you back to a state in which you once were.  Whether that is more joyful, peaceful, giggly or rested, we find the pieces of our former selves and place them back together.  This is what play does for us.  Letting us swap our responsibilities for pleasures, we become restored.

 On occasion, I take time to remember God created everything…play, pleasure, fun and recreation are all included in this.  He desires for us to enjoy the activities and adventures He has provided us.  His plan was never to create us to be His workhorses.  Our ultimate purpose of our existence is to fellowship with Him.  We lose sight of this and how playing sparks our connection to the Creator.  He takes pleasure in us, both, when we are carefree and when we are tending to our responsibilities. 

 What would it take for you and me to schedule play on our calendars—as if it were another responsibility?  I think I would choose to fly a kite.  I have not done that since my kids were little.  Maybe I can find a simple one, or go all in and buy a fancy one with great tails to dance in the wind.  I might not be able to schedule it as the wind cannot be counted on where I live.  However, I can plan!  Then, I will be prepared for the next available opportunity of the wind blowing.  Your turn!  Pick something and schedule or plan it.  It is the first step to recreating you!