PLaYing -- revisited

Spiritual resource to share:  the spiritual root of play

some kid playing in puddles

I tell this story so much that my sons roll their eyes when I tell it to someone in their presence. Although they have heard it a gazillion times, it still holds fresh lessons for me. This is the story.

Gabe (at 4 years old) had a bad earache/infection. I was praying for healing, praying and affirming God's allness and the powerlessness of illness to harm Gabe, when Micah (at 6 years old) came to the door. I asked him to help me pray. He waited about two seconds, said okay and then said 'Gabe, let's go play!!' Gabe immediately woke, his ear totally cleared up. Both boys then ran into the next room where they proceeded to jump up and down on our guest bed.

After a while I joined them. I asked Gabe how his right ear was and he said fine. I asked him how his left ear was and he said fine, then went back to the business of jumping. When I asked Micah how he prayed he told me that "God gave me His playing thoughts."

Micah knew, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that God made us to play. Nothing could convince him otherwise. Nothing could stand in the way of that clear truth. Although my sons are much older now, I continue to draw lessons from this wonderful healing.

We are made to play. Our Father/Mother God did not make us to suffer, God made us to jump up and down. God made us in His image and likeness, perfect, whole and entire.

Play (in a very unplayful analysis) is about engagement, presentness and adventure. I once attended an educational conference on play. The speaker, Herb Brokering, started off with an umbrella, a brick and a plastic flower or some other obscure thing on the stage. It was a widely disjointed talk, at times even silly and I found myself getting irritated. But as his presentation went on, there was also something magic in what he was saying. He kept talking, weaving stories and anecdotes along the way. Toward the end, he got us all to sing a beautiful lilting tune.

He had invited us all to come to a place of playing.

There was this huge auditorium of students and professionals all singing. It was almost hushed and we were quietly happy. We were remembering what it was like to play. We were all made vulnerable a bit, being caught with one another playing. It was delightful!

Those experts of play - children - are showing us the way back to play. Mary Baker Eddy writes in Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures:

Willingness to become as a little child and to leave the old for the new,
renders thought receptive of the advanced idea. Gladness to leave the false
landmarks and joy to see them disappear, - this disposition helps to
precipitate the ultimate harmony.

In the book of Matthew of the New Testament, Christ Jesus says,

Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is
greatest in the kingdom of heaven

So I think that playing is about dropping pretension. Play is selfless and is about the serious business of discovery. It's about being open to new possibilities, about connecting to very different things and laughing that things do connect in surprising ways. Play brings us home to who we really are. And in healing, who we really are is God's perfect and play-full child.

to the fairy cheerleader pilgrim in us all

Spiritual resource to share:  play

My twin nieces and their daddy

I opened the door to squeals of delight and hugs and questions.   Can I have some pie?  Where's Mocha?  Can we play now? What's in those boxes? Can we have a fashion show?  What do you think of my new boots? 

The nieces have arrived. 

The eight-year-old twins and the equally boisterous four-year-old had barely gotten off their winter jackets before the fun was to start. It was Thanksgiving.  But I am not too sure that that mattered that much.  What DID matter was that here was a time to be together and to see and experience everything in a new way.  We, of course, had to see the new boots, the new haircuts, and the new book and the newly developed talents of reading and drawing and cookie making.  Later, all the adults were treated to a fashion show, which is where we stood breathless, as we saw the incredible fairy cheerleader pilgrim outfit.

I blame it on the girls.  Kids tend to bring out the childlikeness in us all - and our innocence, laughter, joy, and goofiness just tumble out.  All inhibitions go out the door when the nieces come in.  So the challenge is -- can we have that same level of joy with one another?

Here's a wish to you all to give it a try -- pump up the volume of joy.  And do this in whatever occassion you find yourself in where there are others, just like you, with a latent reservoir of mischief and awe.  Remember that we are all made to play.  God is good.  All is well.  And may you surround yourself with extraordinary measures of  laughter and unselfishness and fairy cheerleader pilgrims this holiday season.