A Note from Josh – College & Center Newsletters May 2019

When I was about thirteen years old, I remember seeing someone on a skateboard. They were riding around a group of people, but they weren’t pushing; their momentum seemed to propel them. I didn’t understand how that was possible. Then I saw someone jump off of a curb. They didn’t just ride the curb, they jumped into the air. I later learned the term for this is an “ollie”. I didn’t understand how the board stayed on their feet. I was captivated by the whole scene. From that day on, I began to play in this world on a skateboard. How do you play?

Summer is the season of play. We play on boats, at the beach, or online. The season is changing, the weather is warming, and I am sure, like me, we are all starting to plan how we want to play this year. How do you play in this world?

Sometimes it’s hard to play. After all the work is done, the obligations are fulfilled, and the adulting is handled, there is hardly any time or capacity to include something like play into our regular rhythms. Maybe, if you are like me, you settle for a Netflix show or just a drink. I’m not down on things of that sort necessarily, but they aren’t play. They are more vice than play. Some may think vices are all bad. I don’t. I think vices have their role. However, someone once told me, “Things like television and beer simply don’t have the capacity to re-create you, and in this world we need that kind of re-creation. We need to be re-created on a regular basis.” I think they are right. What re-creates you?

As Christians, sometimes it can be hard to figure out how to play faithfully. There is no bible verse that says “be sure to play a bit while you are making disciples and feeding the hungry”. That would have been a nice one from Jesus. However, if we notice our natural tendencies and the makeup of this world, there is something about the image we bear and the creation itself that beckens play. There are trails that invite us to hike, winds that call for a kite, and streams that demand we splash. We don’t have a verse, but we know play is supposed to be part of life. How is play part of your life?

I hope this summer season is filled with more than task lists, obligations, and studies. I hope you take the time to do the thing that re-creates you. Participate in the makeup of yourself and this world by playing a bit. Trust that you are made for more than work and duty. And in the midst of all the ways you play, wonder at the creator who wired you to be more. Amen? Amen.

Josh

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