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| The Our Father: Lent 2012 Retreat |
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FINDING GOD
Part 7: Finding God through leisure
Imagine that you are having a wonderful time. Where do you find God in this enjoyment—or in any leisure activity? If spirituality means to be fully who you are in whatever you are doing, then isn't God present even if you are not conscious of this presence?
Make a list of "the favorite things" you like to do in your leisure time (a la Maria in her famous song in "The Sound of Music"). Your list may vary according to your need or mood on a given day—but it is important that you can make a list!
The wisdom of living includes leisure as well as everything else you do. While enjoying leisure you need to be attentive to what your senses and heart tell you. During leisure times try to keep your mind alive and growing. Seek to be fully alive and to re-create yourself. And through it all, aim to live in the present moment, being conscious of God in your life.
Take a moment to reflect on all of this, on the relationship between leisure and prayer. This relationship is often expressed in music, for example in these verses from Psalm 33: 2-4:
"Give thanks to the Lord on the harp:
with the ten-stringed lyre chant God's praises.
Sing to God a new song;
pluck the strings skillfully, with shouts of gladness."
Music gives us an example of how connected are work and leisure. Any full life is comprised of both work and leisure, no matter what the source of each is. Both leisure and work are needed to achieve wholeness. If your only life is work, you really don't have a life. Leisure and play make up an essential part of any happy and full life. Enjoying this leisure and play with family and friends can add immeasurably to your happiness, indeed to your holiness.
When you have an attitude of leisure, you are not "too busy" but let things happen. You are inwardly calm and relaxed no matter what you choose to do. When you are physically active in skiing or doing some other active sport, you are intensely focused on this activity. Later in the day you may relax in a chair in front of the fireplace while challenging your mind with a crossword puzzle or a good book. Both the skier, the puzzle-solver, and the reader are letting themselves be free to enjoy themselves.
Take a few moments of leisure right now. Close your eyes and breathe deeply. After you feel relaxed, begin to think about (and perhaps write in your journal) how you relax and free your spirit. For example:
• What do you choose to do on your days off?
• What hobbies do you have? Why do you enjoy them?
• What spiritual benefits do you find in exercising, running, walking, swimming, dancing?
• How do reading, writing, listening to music, or creating art give meaning to your life?
• Some of the leisure activities you enjoy may be solitary or may involve other people.
Whatever you choose for true leisure can make you more human by deepening your vision and stretching your mind, body, and soul. During times of leisure you can enhance your skills, gain insights, develop your creativity. Perhaps you want to run a marathon, build a boat, write a book, learn to play the flute. How can you use your leisure to fulfill one of your goals or dreams? Whatever you do during your leisure is a way of interrupting your ordinary routines and becoming more who you are. Isn't this what growing in spirituality is all about?
Celebrations which punctuate ordinary life give meaning to our lives. In Josef Pieper's classic book, Leisure the Basis of Culture (New American Library, 1963), you will read that the soul of leisure lies in celebration. How do you and your family celebrate Christmas? How do your traditions and rituals reflect who you are and what you value? Birthdays are special times for celebrating. They acknowledge us for who we are and how we are loved. The lighted candles on the cake, the "happy birthday" song, and the gifts are rituals which can remind you of the love you and your family or friends have for one another.
Weekends and vacations are special times for letting go. They can be times for physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual growth. The idea of Sabbath is for just this purpose. How do you observe the Sabbath, a day for rest and renewal? In the Creation story God rests on the seventh day, blesses the day, and makes it holy.
In the Book of Leviticus (25:2-7) the early Hebrews were challenged to let the land lie fallow every seventh or jubilee year. This challenge can be taken literally as giving Earth rest, but that meaning can be extended to all of us. On every seventh day you can challenge yourself to let the dust that is the physical core of your being--the "land" of your bodily reality--take a rest. This rest doesn't mean to do nothing (although a good Sabbath practice might be to take a nap), but it means to let yourself be renewed and restored.
Having a Sabbath attitude involves your valuing the time you do not spend in work--and this attitude can literally re-create you. You are re-created by spending time in worshipping God, in enjoying the companionship of family and friends, in appreciating the abundance of nature, in reading a good book, or listening to music.
Leisure is a holy activity that is as necessary for your wholeness as is your work, whatever your work may involve. By being aware of the value of your leisure you can be more open to God in the present moment. Why not:
• sit quietly and watch flowers bloom,
• listen to the glorious sounds of a symphony concert,
• cheer at a baseball game,
• play a vigorous game of tennis,
• enjoy a funny movie with your friends.
• read a good book.
Thank God that you can enjoy life! This prayer may help you to appreciate the opportunity (even the duty) to spend some time in leisure.
"O God, you draw us to yourself through the signs and wonders of the ordinary events of the day and through the silent word spoken in the depths of my heart. Keep me open to your call in everything I do whether at work or leisure, whether alone or with others, whether physically active or quietly resting. Loving God, let me know your presence always. Amen."
Throughout the next few days remind yourself that God is with you during your times of leisure. Repeat this mantra often: LOVING GOD, LET ME KNOW YOUR PRESENCE ALWAYS.
When you are ready, move to the next part of the retreat: Part 8 - Finding God in neighbors near and far
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