“The perfect state, the summum bonum, is play. In play, life expresses itself in its fullness. God’s life is play. Adam fell when his play became serious business.”
~Jakob Böhme
Reflection:
When Jesus said that we must “change and be like children” to “enter the kingdom of heaven” in Matthew 18:3, was he saying that we are too serious, cynical, and driven by worldly fears and desires to experience the joy and peace of God truly? Was he saying that the kingdom of God will not be reached by working harder, putting in more hours, and being more successful? Was he saying that we should lighten up, stop being so uptight, and have more fun, that we should be more playful?
If, as Jakob Böhme suggests, play is the highest good, and if “God’s life is play,” — and rest, Abraham Joshua Heschel and Walter Brueggemann would likely both point out — perhaps we should do more of it. Maybe we should make more time for play in our all-too-busy, all-too-stressful lives. Instead of filling our hours with more work, more hustle, and more grind, might Jesus be admonishing us to have more fun? The answers to these questions are likely only to be discovered in prayer, but one thing we can be sure of is that he was not telling us that works and wealth will lead us to the kingdom of heaven. So we might as well pray and play.
~Robert Van Valkenburgh
Question for Meditation:
In this life of all too often serious and tragic happenings, where do you allow yourself room to play?
Scripture:
“Then Jesus said to them, ‘The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.’” — Mark 2:27 (ESV)
For Further Reading:
If you enjoyed this post, you might also enjoy reading Lectio: Love Over Self-Interest
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