Reflect
Do you remember being in grade school and the time for lunch and recess came? A sensation of exuberance and liberation would wash over me as I’d book it for the jungle gym and slide. As children get ready to go back to school—or try to soak up every last bit of summer left—may we recall the excitement of a grade school recess and find ways to tap into that same energy today. With all of the fire-and-brimstone images of a wrathful God, it can be easy to forget that God can be like a playful child, smiling and inviting us to join in a recess of divine proportions.
Pray
God of childlike wonder and play,
I’m taking things too seriously again.
I wear a frown on my face,
and I’m busily checking things off my never-ending to-do list.
I’m “adulting,” as they say, and it’s no fun.
You, on the other hand, are full of surprises and energy,
May I turn away from the sullen seriousness of my life
and the “important” things I need to take care of.
Guide me, instead, to the jungle gym, wherever and whatever it might be in my life today.
It is a place of play and freedom, and you want all of us to be there, having fun again.
Amen.
Act
OK, so you might be a little old for the monkey bars—at least, I am. That’s no problem! Fun for one person might be torture for another, so it’s important to give some thought to what activities you truly enjoy and who, if anyone, you’d want to include. For today, just identify one thing you can do for fun. But here’s the trick: Actually do it. That’s where I constantly fail. It just ends in thought. Perhaps it can be something small, so it’s not too hard to make a commitment: Get an ice cream cone, listen to a favorite song, or go out to a sporting event or play. It’s recess time!
