This past weekend was our annual church retreat. This is one of my favorite weekends of the
year. It’s a great opportunity to meet
new people and develop relationships with our fellow church members. It's also just a whole lot of fun! The Saturday night program is my favorite
because it's all about having fun and laughing.
Laughter is a very important part of relationships. In any great friendship, there are certainly
those times where you have the deep intimate conversations. But there are also lots of times where you
are just hanging out and having fun. As
Christians, I think the deep intimate conversations with God are sometimes
easier than hanging out and having fun with him. We know that prayer and worship are spiritual
experiences, but we sometimes think of having fun and laughing as
"secular" and not spiritual.
If we really believe that God is always with us, then there
is never an activity we do in which God is not present. But that doesn't mean our life should only be
hymns and meditation; we can and should have fun with God. Let’s not forget it was Jesus who refreshed
the wine supply to keep the party going.
For me, our church retreat is a great example of this.
As a dad who works full time, I only get a few hours with my
kids each day, and most of that is spent in meals and getting ready for
bed. My favorite "leisure
activity" with my kids is tickling them and wrestling with them. According to my oldest son, this is often his
favorite part of the day as well. I
can't explain it, but laughter is a very powerful way of bonding a
relationship. I love the times when I
can laugh and have fun with God – particularly when I can do it with my whole
church family.
Chad Hess
No comments:
Post a Comment