It’s summer time – go enjoy the cottage; try your hand at sailing; take many refreshing swims in the lake and don’t be afraid to kick back and enjoy your favourite sunny spot (or shaded spot) donning your best straw hat complete with designer sunglasses, Capri’s or clam diggers and a big tall glass of ice tea. Most importantly….don’t feel guilty about it. Why? You ask! Because you’re practicing theology!
Say what??? How am I practicing theology by lazing about and enjoying the summer? You are practicing theology because you are embracing leisure time and believe it or not there is a theology of leisure! (Well…actually there is a theology for just about anything…but hear me out).
We often speak of theology as “faith seeking understanding”. Just as God created work to focus the creative powers of humanity, formed in God’s image, so too, God created leisure to be a part of our weekly routine. Remember that seventh day in the book of Genesis – the one God called Sabbath – the one God blessed and made holy. It’s about leisure; rest; rejuvenation of the human spirit.
In his work, “Towards a Theology of Leisure”, author Graham Neville states that “the intention of Christian theology is to examine and reflect on the whole of human experience in the light of Christian revelation”. Since leisure is a part of the human experience, there must be a place for theological reflection on the experience of human leisure. German theologian and philosopher, Josef Pieper (1904-1997)said that the “soul of leisure lies in celebration”. Celebration is the point at which 3 very important aspects of leisure merge – effortlessness, calm and relaxation. There was probably a time where you and I might have thought of leisure as a kind of “sloth” or mere idleness. Remember the old adage: “idle hands are the work of the devil?” Well…apparently not! Pieper says that “leisure is superior to all and every function of the human person”. If we accept this, then leisure becomes something mysterious and deeply related to worship. Work is a kind of action, while leisure is a kind of time – something Pieper says is a preparation or “internship for eternity”.
But how do we use our leisure time so that it doesn’t become sloth or idleness? Well…we use it to reflect on the wonder of God and God’s creation – to lift our hearts in praise and worship. Pope Gregory the Great (540AD – 604AD), better known as the “Father of Christian Worship” said that “the contemplative life (quiet, prayerful solitude) is a foretaste of the coming rest.” The coming rest is the rest of Paradise and if there is any link between the contemplative life and the leisure of our Manitoba summers, then our leisure should be occupied with things that offer a foretaste of heaven – what could do this better than enjoying God’s creation – the warm sun on our backs; the beauty of the trees in full leaf; the aroma of flowers in full bloom and the refreshing taste of an ice cold refreshment.
Yes…enjoy your summer because this Sabbath leisure time is a necessary accompaniment to work – a time for recovery of strength and renewal of spirit so that in the fall….we can pick up the work of the Gospel once again.
