A Summer of Play: Series Intro
What's play got to do with it?
a time to weep and a time to laugh,
a time to mourn and a time to dance,
Ecclesiastes 3:4
Summer is upon us, and our church1 has themed this season as the Summer of Play.
One may wonder why encourage play when it seems unproductive. Why not a Summer of Reading or Summer of Service? I won't doubt we will one year have a summer of reading or service, but this year, play seems to be the most appropriate endeavour to point our people toward. There are a few intentional reasons why we want to highlight play, and it is not because the church or its leaders wants to make it easy for themselves; It's not because we just want to be lazy or take it ease. On the contrary, because of the burden, pressure, distractions, and challenges we observe in our community, we realize the vital role of play in this season.
Coming out of the pandemic, with the struggle of being in-person or online, the fear of the next wave, the war in Ukraine, the freedom convoy, and the other hundreds of attention-grabbing headlines and political landmines, many of us are understandably drowning. And we are drowning on our own. As a church, we realize the importance of connections and communion as a crucial part of our faith. Still, these past few years, many of our community's connections and networks have been eroded. Whether it is restrictions or polarizations of current events, our relationships with one another are not the same as before.
But how do we fix this? Is it to have more programs, do more Sunday School classes about how to make friends again, or recruit more volunteers in our caring ministry? Is the solution to just do more work? Or does play have something to offer us in times such as this?
So as part of our Summer of Play, I will use this space this summer to explore the potential and importance of play in our lives as Christians and how games can be a healthy medicine for all of us.
But first, have you played any games recently?
What type of games have you been powering through these past few months?
I would love to hear what you’ve been playing lately!
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