Life can sometimes be a bit serious. We need to find ways to be playful and when I took a bunch of guys from Villawood Salvos on a bike ride, they found a playground and played like 5 year old's. It was beautiful!
One of the programs that I have always been keen to activate when
working with troubled people as a salvo minister is recreation.
In one of my earliest roles I found funding to run fabulous recreational
activities in Adelaide at a program called towards independence. We did a lot of activities that are normally
out of reach for people living week to week on the pension or unemployment
benefits such as jet skiing, snorkeling, go karting and laser shooting. It was terrific to see people laughing and
relaxing, falling off jet skis and crashing go Karts, Building memories together and trying new
things. It was great relationally and gave context for deeper and more trusting
conversations.
The annual Salvo Fraser Island fishing trip is another example of how
recreation has built community. There
are dozens of guys who look forward to this trip every year and retell the
stories from these trips with smiles and enthusiasm every time we meet.
At Villawood where I was appointed last year, we wanted to foster this
dynamic and so went to local swimming holes and did few camping trips, but
there was one activity that taught me a lot about how recreation and shared fun
experiences lands for people who have been through trauma and are often sad.
We had a weekly bike ride and bundled 6 or 8 bicycles onto the Ute and
headed to a local pathway and parkland that ran alongside the Georges
River. Without planning it on the first day we did
this ride, the lead cyclists saw a terrific kids playground with swings and
slides, and a big swinging disc that a few people could sit on. There was a flying fox and all manner of
climbing structures and monkey bars.
They made a bee line for the playground, dumped their bikes and started
playing enthusiastically. We pushed each
other on the swings, zoomed on the flying fox and the laughter and simple fun
of this experience was a pure joy. It’s
like their missing childhood joy was activated in the safety and love of the
salvo community.
One guy sat up on a slide and was preparing to plummet down and I asked
him when the last time he went on a slide was.
His answer shocked me. I’ve never
been down a slide in my life. He grew up
in a war torn country as a child and just totally missed these simple childhood
experiences.
We have been on dozens of bike rides like this and we always stop at the
playground for a little frolic.
I know in my life I need to find ways to let the inner silly child come
out and be playful. The lovely Sue
reckons I need to find ways to let the mature and sensible adult come out as
well, but none the less, playfulness is an important part of a healthy
emotional life.
When was the last time you were silly and playful?
Often being with children somehow allows and encourages this sort of
dynamic, in fact being childlike is described as being close to the way of
God’s heart. I often have friends with
children over and tend to ignore the adults and play with the kids. I hang out with serious adults all day – so I
treasure time to be playful with kids.
But not everyone has kids in their life, so we adults need to loosen up
a bit sometimes and be intentional about having some fun.
The lovely Sue and I go to the swimming pool for our hydrotherapy
sessions about three times a week and at the exit of the pool there is a little
A frame sign that always has a joke on it.
Corny stuff like; Why did the golfer bring two pairs of pants? In case he got a hole in one or why can’t
your nose be 12 inches long, because then it would be a foot. Stuff like that. But we always read it and have a little
chuckle. It is nice to find ways to
smile.
Games like heads up, which is like celebrity heads and charades, encourage
us to act out and snort like a pig or jump around like a monkey. It’s silly and makes us laugh, but the
endorphins and oxytocin that is released in our bodies always helps us feel
better.
Go on, be a bit silly somehow today, I dare you!
Bless ya,
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