Playtime is often relegated to the world of children, as though God’s own self has not played throughout history. The very act of creating all that lives occurred through the Holy One playing in the dirt – making shapes and watching them take on life (Genesis 2:4-25). God’s work is not factory formed, with all things being exactly the same. Each piece – animal, plant, person – has idiosyncrasies that are known and purposeful to the One who made them. God’s sense of play is evident in how we are made to work in cooperation and concert with one another and all creation.
Playing and praying go hand in hand for marking sacred time and space. We who have become stiff and formal in our roles must learn to look to younger brothers and sisters. See how they find strength in fun, in questions, and in action. See how they shake off mistakes and try again. See how they are not afraid to learn and try new things, for those new things expand their imagination to God’s possibilities and impossibilities.
This message is excerpted from “Sabbath and play” by Julia Seymour in the September 2015 Gather magazine.
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