Playtime

A couple of weeks ago I helped out with the Recreation part of VBS (that's Vacation Bible School for all the older ones reading this who still remember felt board Bible lessons and macaroni crosses in crafts), and one of the days I was in charge of keeping an eye on the kids playing in and on the playground. I'm always struck watching little kids play together because I learn so much from them.

As soon as they got going sliding, running, and expending copious amounts of energy, one of the little girls ran up to me and asked, "Mr. Noah, will you play with me?" I smiled and told her how much I appreciated her asking but that I needed to keep an eye on all the other kids and maybe she should ask someone else. I watched as she proceeded to approach a group of three girls timidly and ask the all-important question to them, "Will you play with me?" As I did, I realized that much as it is the make-or-break question for a kid on the playground, we as adults have similar situations throughout our lives.

Here's the thing: we come into social situations (high school, college, church, work, parties) with all our insecurities, all our frailties, all our perceived weaknesses, and we see all these already-formed groups of people having conversations, talking, laughing, and getting along. And in these situations of corporate monkey bars and social rope climbs, all we want is for someone to play with us. To find someone or a group of someones who will accept us into their game and keep us from being relegated to watching from the sidelines.

Thankfully, the group she asked willingly let the little girl in, and they laughed and played until it was time to move to the next part of VBS. But you and I both know this might not always be the case for her, and it certainly isn't always the case for adults. On playgrounds when no one will play with you it's okay to cry and be sad, and there are usually adults around to comfort you and make it all better, but in the adult world we don't always have those options available. Too often when adults aren't included we smile, pretend it's no big deal, and bury the hurt or whatever emotions are conjured up.

I hope and pray that I will be someone who is ready with a "yes" whenever anyone, no matter what they look like, smell like, act like, etc. asks me if I'll play with them. After all, isn't that what Christ did for me?

You Think?

This quarter, I'm teaching a class titled "Written Analysis." The point of the class is to challenge students to think creatively and critically about issues related to their fields of study and then propose solutions to these problems based on the thinking they've done.

Last night, we had the first class, and we started with a discussion about worldviews and how our worldview affects (deeply affects, in fact) the way we approach the act and exercise of thinking and decision-making. Here's the thing: it occurred to me as we were talking, or rather as the students were talking and I was listening, just how little most people think about what they believe and how what they believe influences their behavior. As we laid out some of the bigger categories of worldviews (e.g. nihilism, existentialism, post-modernism) it was fascinating to see little cracks in some of the students as they realized that their behavior in certain situations actually cross a couple or even several different worldviews.

I don't know exactly where this discussion will ultimately lead, but it gave me great confidence that these students are going to be able to handle this class and anything I throw at them this quarter. I also walked away more convinced than ever, that we as humans need to do more thinking about what we think.