Summer’s rest

Imagine when life was simpler and being together was divine

By Bishop Mark Beckman

Imagine a time when life was uncluttered and we rested with the Lord awhile.

In our busy, fast-paced world, we all need a chance to find some genuine rest at times. Even Jesus recognized this fundamental human need. After the Apostles had been busily proclaiming the good news of the kingdom, Jesus says, “Come by yourselves to an out-of-the-way place and rest a little” (Mark 6:31).

Summer is a great time of year to do just that. Remember bursting forth from the doors of school on the last day of the year? Freedom! As a child, summer always signaled freedom.

After months of desk-sitting and chalkboards,  the open-ended days of summer came just in time. They seemed to last forever (Fall, with the start of the new school year, seemed infinitely distant).

This was before the days of the “super-structured childhood” when it seems every day (if not minute) of a child’s life is pre-planned. In those days, we children had to invent play.

We were lucky to grow up in a relatively safe suburb of a small southern town where we were surrounded by the mysteries of cow pastures, pine woods, creeks, and overgrown fence rows.

That was when most homes were still unlocked, keys left in the ignition of the car in the driveway, and three or four channels graced the television sets without a remote. And though our house only had one window-unit air conditioner, it was the outside that drew us.

Free time and imagination, what a wonder for a child! Ditches turned into cities and roads for Matchbox cars. Little green plastic Army men (they were all men in those days) were set up in preparation for the “big battle” and tomato-fence wires were transformed into forts in the pine woods.

We became Lewis and Clark following the creek to its “source” and found whole new worlds hidden in the underbrush of fence rows.

(It’s true that not all of our fun was innocent. One day, the neighbor rang the doorbell and told our mother that we had been throwing rocks at his truck—sad to say it was true. Waiting for Dad to get home was the worst part. But we even learned from those experiences.)

Bicycling the neighborhood, picking blackberries, and riding the wagon down a dangerous hill (we didn’t tell Mom until much later, although she wondered how it got “banged up”) were par for the course.

Dad’s whistle brought us back home for dinner, and afterward, as darkness fell, a whole new world of fun began (spotlight and catching fireflies—we called them lightning bugs—were included). Adults gladly joined in these games, and everyone took responsibility for the children of the neighborhood.

We didn’t spend hours alone with the newest computer games (Pong was just being invented), and perhaps we were better for it.

Maybe this summer, instead of having the family “super-scheduled,” we might find some time simply to “waste” with our children. Maybe take them outside to see the Milky Way at night if you can find a place without city lights.

Or maybe try sitting on lawn chairs while visiting with neighbors as dusk falls and children are forced to “invent play” once again.

Maybe television, computer games, cellphones, and all of the distractions of the modern world could be turned off a bit more. Maybe we adults and children could all use a bit more imagination and free time in life simply to be together.

Maybe that’s what summer is really all about. Maybe we might just find time to “come and away” and rest with the Lord awhile!