A Time to Play

     We work too many hours in the United States.
     This is the conclusion of Juliet Schor in her book, The Overworked American. It is an older book published back in the 1980s, but her conclusions still ring true. We work more hours than any other nation because we have to keep up with consumer lifestyles that have become as a runaway train!
     It is no mistake that Schor wrote a second book with the title, The Overspent American.
     What we need is time to play, and not play that serves merely as an escape from work and the demands of life. We need play that, as Jurgen Moltmann writes in his Theology of Play, helps us to imagine a new future. In other words, the games that we play should help us to creatively imagine a "counter-culture." The games appear to participants (on the outside) as just another fun game; but the underlying purpose is imagining a future that lifts us out of this spend-more, work-more lifestyle.
     Our joy is at stake. True freedom is at stake.
     What does this look like in real life? I have some ideas for me personally. I would like to plant a raised garden in my backyard and work on a project that the whole family can do together. First and foremost, it would be fun! But there is also the purpose of imagining a new future in which we are not tied to commercially raised produce that is wrapped in Celophane. It is an exercise that affirms Creation and sustainable agricultural practices.
     Another idea. How about a simple game of hide-and-seek around the house? My children and I played this game the other day and it was a lot of fun! I don't know the underlying, counter-cultural purpose of hide-and-seek, but I'm sure there is one.
     Maybe it is imagining a future in which Mom, Dad, and children are free to laugh and enjoy each other's company, without worrying about homework, swimming practice, e-mails, Facebook posts, and uncompleted projects at work.
     Maybe this is reason enough to play!