"The human being is only completely human at play."
“ . . . children do not always have the ability to put their thoughts into words. Instead, they communicate in visual images, in circular patterns rather than lines, in feelings rather than reason. It is this aspect of children that makes them more open to wonder, mystery and union.” Lacy Finn Borgo
"(Young children) do not yet know how to put on airs. They don’t try to make things look better than they are. They haven’t yet learned how to hold back their squeals of delight, their expressions of need or desire, their tears of sadness or pain. Children seem to be uninhibited about expressing whatever is true of them in the moment.” Ruth Haley Barton
“Our culture has made leisure an industry, but knows very little about play. Often what we call ‘play’ is competitive or compulsive, because the aesthetic dimension of true play, its holy uselessness, goes against our grain. Yet as the German poet-philosopher Schiller wisely says, 'the human being is completely human only at play'.” Margaret Guenther
The disciples spoke sternly to adults who were bringing their children to be blessed by Jesus. There were certainly more important things to be done with Jesus' time--like overthrowing a government, for heaven's sake! Children were considered the bottom of the sociocultural barrel.
And yet, here was Jesus. Rebuking the disciples rebuking Him. "Jesus increased the dissonance by further stating that children were ahead of their adult counterparts in accessing the Kingdom of God," says Borgo. Here's that upside down Kingdom again.
This call to childlikeness, to play, is similar to silence. Both touch on wonder, mystery and union. Both seem useless, unproductive. Both offer an invitation to the naked now. Both play and silence require a certain uninhibitedness, an eviction of performance. Ruth Haley Barton says, "The point of solitude is to be with God with what is true about me right now—whatever that is. Silence, then, allows me to simply give God access to the reality of myself.”
Children give God access to the reality of themselves without even trying. What is true in the moment is true. Period. Both silence and play give God access to the reality of myself, my unpretentious, uninhibited self. No scaffolding, no busyness, no jockeying. Welcome to wonder, mystery and union.
The present is where my reality meets God's reality. And that is where transformation happens.
What was your favorite form of play as a child? What did you love to do uninhibited, losing track of all time?
What evokes wonder, mystery and union in you?
What are you thinking, feeling, noticing about your body and your longings RIGHT NOW?
What do you know to be true about God RIGHT NOW?
What is one way you can introduce more play and more silence into your day?
JUDY
PS I'm learning a lot about children and spiritual formation from Dr. Lacy Finn Borgo and her resources on Good Dirt Ministries. She's amazing.