After The Work

Recreation is a fun word. It is associated with sports, camping, and innumerable activities people do when they are not working. It isn’t quite resting, but definitely can be relaxing, it seems to be something we do after we finish our “grown up stuff”.

Recreation is a more fundamental part of living as human beings. The hint is in the latin root of the word “recreare”, meaning “to refresh and renew.” At the heart of recreation is refreshment and renewal. A hiking trip may take much physical activity and planning, but returning with smiles and pictures is for some renewal.

Renewal is in the world around us. The seasons renew the earth for growth. The rains come to renew the earth. In scripture, there are psalms of disorder or lament, psalms of order that teach, and psalms of thanksgiving or renewal where the psalmist is singing praise for what God has done:

“It is good to praise the Lord
    and make music to your name, O Most High,
² proclaiming your love in the morning
    and your faithfulness at night,
³ to the music of the ten-stringed lyre
    and the melody of the harp.”It is good to praise the Lord
    and make music to your name, O Most High,
² proclaiming your love in the morning
    and your faithfulness at night,
³ to the music of the ten-stringed lyre
    and the melody of the harp.

⁴ For you make me glad by your deeds, Lord;
    I sing for joy at what your hands have done.”

In scripture, renewal is linked with God’s work. When our brokenness is met with new understanding of ourselves and God’s work on our behalf, we live in gratitude for what he has done. We are more than we were, we are being transformed. We are renewed, ready to face life and whatever new challenges may come. Times of recreation are times we can be thankful and get in touch with what God has done in our lives.

Life presents many obstacles, but many of them can be messengers of renewal. If we can reframe our difficulties as opportunists for growth, our fitness in life is renewed. What weighs us down becomes lighter, not because our problems disappear, but because we become stronger. To gain strength, we need times to re-create and remind us who we are and why we are here.

This may seem a far cry from playing softball on the weekends, but it holds true. We toil through the week perhaps doing things we have to do, only to celebrate life by doing the things we want to do, activities only done because we delight in them. A hiking trip with your dog will not pay the bills, but we still hike because we want to. It is important to us.

If we neglect what truly fulfills us, we are neglecting a large part of what makes us human. If we do not recreate in our lives, we are more likely to be stuck in depressive patterns and self destructive behaviors for our relief. We need natural ways to increase our dopamine, ways that resonate deeply within us, that make us truly who we are. God will provide the opportunities and if we look within, we know what we would truly love to do.