Learning to Play: After You Have Sinned & Grown Old

Last updated on: July 11, 2012 at 11:45 am by Tim Suttle

Learning to Play: After You Have Sinned & Grown Old 2012-07-11T11:45:03-06:00 Tim Suttle

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

My youngest boy is in the throes of learning how to swim. He’s 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. “Hey, let’s work on your swimming, (he groans). Nah, come on! Swim from here to the wall and I want you to concentrate on your kicking.” He’d do that and I’d say, “Good, let’s do it again only this time think about keeping your legs straighter when you kick,” (more groans). All of this followed by ten more minutes of whining and begging me to stop, and for the finale: completely shutting down.

I tried that tack once this year and said forget it. I’m just going to play with him. We’ll learn swimming along the way. We started out playing, then he started asking swimming questions, “What do I do to get going when there’s no wall for me to push off? How can I make myself go all the way to the bottom?” 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’s 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’t believe the progress I’ve made as a human being.

I’m at Conception Abbey on Retreat this week & I’m 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 “parallel play.” You are up here together but doing your own thing most of the time. But the use of the word “play” is extremely significant.

Retreating is learning how to play again – to delight in the goodness of time.

In his book, Orthodoxy, G.K. Chesterton says our problem is that we’ve 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 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 “Growing Young.” It begins:

I’ve gone so far from my home,
Seen the world and I have known,
So many secrets,
I wish now I did not know
Cause they have crept into my heart,
They have left it cold and dark,
And bleeding,
Bleeding, and falling apart.

That’s me. That’s 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.

Mullins again:

What kept you waiting for me all this time.
Was your love stronger than my foolish pride?
Will you take me back, Lord? Take me back and let me be your child.

Yeah, man. Will you take me back, Lord? Will you take me back and let me be your child again? Here’s the passage from Chesterton’s book. My recommendation is that you put it up on your wall somewhere and read it everyday:

“Because children have abounding vitality, because they are in spirit fierce and free, therefore they want things repeated and unchanged. They always say, “Do it again”; 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, “Do it again” to the sun; and every evening, “Do it again” 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.”.

Previous Post

July 10, 2012

When the Wild Beasts Show Up

Next Post

July 12, 2012 Breaking Retreat: Refusing to Evaluate

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category abortion corruption Donald Trump elections Empire Entertainment Ezra Klein ideology Justice Lacan politics race Sports Ta-Nehisi Coates Uncategorized

Select a Month September 2026 March 2026 September 2025 March 2025 June 2024 January 2024 December 2023 May 2023 February 2023 October 2022 April 2022 March 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 September 2020 July 2020 June 2020 March 2020 September 2019 July 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 August 2010 July 2010 May 2010 April 2010 March 2010 February 2010 January 2010 December 2009 September 2009 August 2009 July 2009 June 2009 May 2009 April 2009 February 2009 January 2009 December 2008 October 2008 September 2008 August 2008 July 2008 June 2008 May 2008 April 2008 March 2008 February 2008 January 2008 November 2007 October 2007 September 2007 August 2007 July 2007 June 2007 May 2007 April 2007 March 2007 February 2007 January 2007 December 2006 October 2006 September 2006 August 2006 July 2006 June 2006 May 2006 April 2006 December 2004 November 2004 October 2004 September 2004 August 2004

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

How many books are in the New Testament?

Select your answer to see how you score.

39 22 27 66