My youngest boy is in the throes of learning how to swim. He\u2019s taken the lessons and has been pretty frustrated (ing), at times over the past few summers. When it was time to work on his swimming with me this year, I started out like always. \u201cHey, let\u2019s work on your swimming, (he groans). Nah, come on! Swim from here to the wall and I want you to concentrate on your kicking.\u201d He\u2019d do that and I\u2019d say, \u201cGood, let\u2019s do it again only this time think about keeping your legs straighter when you kick,\u201d (more groans). All of this followed by ten more minutes of\u00a0whining and\u00a0begging me to stop, and for the finale: completely shutting down.<\/p>\n
I tried that tack once this year and said forget it. I\u2019m just going to play with him. We\u2019ll learn swimming along the way. We started out playing, then he <\/em>started asking swimming questions, \u201cWhat do I do to get going when there\u2019s no wall for me to push off? How can I make myself go all the way to the bottom?\u201d It was awesome. The power of play amazed me. We worked on his swimming for 90 minutes the other day, and he never knew that\u2019s what we were doing. Truth be told, I forgot as well. The last thirty minutes were spent with me saying we need to get going and him begging me to do it one more time. You would not believe the progress he has made as a swimmer. You wouldn\u2019t believe the progress I\u2019ve made as a human being.<\/p>\n I\u2019m at Conception Abbey on Retreat this week & I\u2019m re-learning the value of play in my own spiritual life. My friend Dan brings people from his church on retreat up here all the time. He calls much of retreat \u201cparallel play.\u201d You are up here together but doing your own thing most of the time. But the use of the word \u201cplay\u201d is extremely significant.<\/p>\n Retreating is learning how to play again \u2013 to delight in the goodness of time<\/em>.<\/p>\n In his book, Orthodoxy<\/em>, G.K. Chesterton says our problem is that we\u2019ve sinned and grown old. Our oldness is simply an inability to remain in the moment without re-processing the past, or scheming about the future. I remember that I first found Orthodoxy <\/em>because Rich Mullins recommended it in a concert, so I immediately went out and bought it. Mullins had read Chesterton and had written his words into a song called \u201cGrowing Young.\u201d It begins:<\/p>\n I\u2019ve gone so far from my home,<\/em> That\u2019s me. That\u2019s us. So many things I wish now I did not know. I feel like retreating is one way to try and learn how to be like a child again: to forget about the darkness and just delight in the goodness of time. I need to be like a child, not in irresponsibility, capriciousness, or foolishness, but in the ability to just live in the moment with delight and joy.<\/p>\n Mullins again:<\/p>\n What kept you waiting for me all this time.<\/em> Yeah, man. Will you take me back, Lord? Will you take me back and let me be your child again? Here\u2019s the passage from Chesterton\u2019s book. My recommendation is that you put it up on your wall somewhere and read it everyday:<\/p>\n \u201cBecause children have abounding vitality, because they are in spirit fierce and free, therefore they want things repeated and unchanged. They always say, \u201cDo it again\u201d; and the grown-up person does it again until he is nearly dead. For grown-up people are not strong enough to exult in monotony. But perhaps God is strong enough to exult in monotony. It is possible that God says every morning, \u201cDo it again\u201d to the sun; and every evening, \u201cDo it again\u201d to the moon. It may not be automatic necessity that makes all daisies alike; it may be that God makes every daisy separately, but has never got tired of making them. It may be that He has the eternal appetite of infancy; for we have sinned and grown old, and our Father is younger than we.\u201d.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" My youngest boy is in the throes of learning how to swim. He\u2019s taken the lessons and has been pretty frustrated (ing), at times over the past few summers. When it was time to work on his swimming with me this year, I started out like always. \u201cHey, let\u2019s work on your swimming, (he groans). […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1118,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[14,17,16,15,18],"class_list":["post-507","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-conception-abbey","tag-g-k-chesterton","tag-play","tag-retreat","tag-rich-mullins"],"yoast_head":"\n
\nSeen the world and I have known,<\/em>
\nSo many secrets,<\/em>
\nI wish now I did not know<\/em>
\nCause they have crept into my heart,<\/em>
\nThey have left it cold and dark,<\/em>
\nAnd bleeding,<\/em>
\nBleeding, and falling apart.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n
\nWas your love stronger than my foolish pride?<\/em>
\nWill you take me back, Lord? Take me back and let me be your child.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n