The Playground
Do you remember the playground as a child? For many of us it consisted of very high slides made of chipping (lead) paint at great heights that seemed like they were a hundred feet (though probably not even seven feet at the most) in the air. The high polished metal looked so cool but you knew if you had shorts on it would burn like heck from the midday sun as you slid down. Or those things that spun around made of that same wonderful paint as the slide’s ladder … that sometimes could send you flying off if you did not hold on tight enough!
The swings - when you would jump off them high in the air and come crashing down in the gravel … sometimes having tiny stones stuck on your knees.
I have been thinking back on these playgrounds. They were synonymous with summer. They were fun. The burdens of the world and the cares of everyday life did not exist on these playgrounds - only imagination and fun. There were times when my Dad would take me to McCollum Park, a park near our house and I would spend the remainder of the evening playing. I miss the playground.
I sometimes wonder what would happen if we approached our lives in the same way. Wonder. Excitement. Joy. Apprehension. I wonder what would happen if we approached life with the wonderment of a child - Jesus did tell us “let the children come” and “whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it” (Mark 10). Perhaps we might be able to hold the worries of the world back if we approach our lives and even our faith with the eye of a child as if we are on top of that old slide a hundred feet in the air...just ready to slide down screaming with joy.
Yours in Christ,
Pastor Jason
