Christian Living
Playing is one of those things adults do when they have time, which generally turns-out to be never. At least they seldom have time. And when they finally do play, it turns out to be something like a game of cards with friends or maybe a weekend in Vegas. Children on the other hand, have plenty of time to play. Their play time isn’t relegated to games with rules or mindless activities. Their imaginations run wild about everything from life on the high seas to tea parties with queens.
I remember my imagination as a child. If I wasn’t playing some adventure role with my brother, I was acting it out on my own. I was a war hero in the heat of battle. I rescued countless men in my battalion from the unfriendly fire of the enemy. The mortars were falling on all sides, landing with a deafening explosion. The smell of burning trees and gun powder mixed to create a putrid, un-breathable air. I was calling out orders this way and that. Men were scrambling at my command. But they were falling in battle. The enemy was advancing and my men lay wounded in their path. With all the resolve I could muster, I broke the line to rescue them. They were lying in pain, helpless. They needed me. I could not let them down. I hoisted two men, one on each shoulder and ran with reckless abandon to safety. I could hear the bullets whistling by my face. The groaning men on all sides were crying out to be rescued. I could only assure them I would be back. But my mom was calling for dinner, and they would have to wait.
When I went to bed, I would resume my adventure until sleep brought it to a hazy close. In the morning, it would be something different. Maybe I would be a sailor or even a great martial artist. I would fall in love and grow old with my beautiful wife. Maybe I would be the youngest boy to get married at age eleven. After all, I was mature for my age. I had been in battle, toiled at sea and invented gadgets that saved the world.
I must admit, I still fantasize. Those fantasies are no different today than when I was child. Sometimes, I even act them out physically, when I am alone of course. I’m sure it would be quite a sight for someone to walk-in and see me throwing a round-house to the head of an imaginary character to keep him from harming my family. Of course, I would be mortified for someone to watch me kiss my arm as I imagine my wife being grateful for my sacrifice for the family.
With all of that imagination, I have a shortcoming that greatly disturbs me. In fact, the Lord has been convicting me of my imagination. Not that the content is anything I should not be thinking, but the duplicity in my life has become evident to me. I conjure these things in my head and enjoy them thoroughly. But, let one of my children ask me to play with them on their ImagiNext castle or their Power Rangers and I suddenly become a stoic adult. I play with them, but my imagination is never let out of my head. I can’t seem to bring myself to act it out.
I think about how embarrassing it would be to sit there and act out a fantasy. My wife is watching. What would she think if I started kicking at bad guys who didn’t exist or screaming in panic at an unknown enemy? What would you think if you invited friends over and one of them says, “Let’s play like we’re on a boat at sea and we’re doing battle with an elusive enemy?” Sounds kind of silly, doesn’t it?
Wouldn’t we all like to let our imaginations go? Wouldn’t you like, for once, to be able to sit down to tea with your friends and the queen of England? Right now I imagine a playground full of men and women playing tag with their Armani suit jackets and laptops lying next to the sandbox. I see four guys hunched over behind a park bench with sticks in their hands as they reload them for another round of fire at an unseen enemy in the woods. Haven’t you been there? Haven’t you wanted to go there again?
Recently, I saw a great movie. I was inspired by the imagination of the main character. It was the movie “Finding Neverland.”
In this movie, James Barrie, played by Johnny Depp, befriends a bereaved family who recently lost a father and husband. Mr. Barry is at the park when he meets the family. He begins to act out fantasies with the children. The mother looks on as her children experience the joy of being children. Other adults watch and say cruel things about his exploits with them. James takes a liking to them all, but pays special attention to little Peter, after whom he would later name one of his classics, Peter Pan.
As I watched the movie, the Lord began to rip away at my heart. I was on an airplane so I couldn’t exactly quit watching the movie. I didn’t want to quit. My heart was breaking for my children. I had all of this imagination in my head, but I never blessed them with it. Gavin doesn’t know what it’s like to be a pirate on the open sea with me. I never braved the under-water worlds of beasts and monsters with Evan. I have never been Gabriella’s butler while she served tea to English royalty. And Leah and I have never attended fashion shows that featured her designs. No, I haven’t taken them there. I have starved my children’s imaginations.
I have made a vow to the Lord. I will start being active in my children’s imaginations. I will let my family into my head and we will experience the world of play-time together. I will need to choose to set down my work and pick up my sword. I will decide that 5:00 in the evening is not merely time to quit work. Five in the evening is time to start living the razor’s edge of adventure with my children. It is time to find the cure for hunger in Africa or the golden statue of Oribihachi. Perhaps we will venture upon Noah's ark or bring Jesus to an unknown tribe of people on an uncharted island. It doesn’t matter what it is. I want them inside my head. I want to be in theirs. And I can think of no better way than for us to immerse ourselves in imaginative play.
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I'm not sure what your intention is with this article. I like the title and your ultimate conclusion, but it's kinda like a diary entry where you bring it to where you make up your mind in a narrative sense.
You need to work out if you're going to use this to touch other people or just let people see into your mind (which is what you're doing now).
If you want to make it more Christian living, then state more facts about imagination running peoples lives (facts and figures from the internet can help) and open it up, to sharing your experience but with an emphasis to others that also go through an active imagination uh... disorder.
More description of HOW it could literally benefit your children's lives is needed too.
As a diary entry, it's great and if you rewrite it to be Christian Living, send it too me so I can read and pick it apart properly.
Blessings,
B Brenton
As for suggestions for improvement...the main thing that stood out to me was the frequent changes in tense in the second paragraph. Sometimes verbs were simple past tense, sometimes they were of the "Had done" variety (what do you call that tense?), and if I'm not mistaken there may have been other tenses in there as well. The whole paragraph will have more unity and "punch" when all of those verbs agree.
I look forward to more. Thanks for sharing your insight with us!
Now as for your article. Thank you, thank you for writing this! I have the same problem of not really getting involved with my children's play. I have plenty of time, but if they seem content, it is easy to ignore them and indulge in my own activity (like the FW message boards-ouch!)
I have already been feeling guilty about not spending more time with them, rather than time around them. I'd love for my husband to read this (he has the same problem, only he doesn't know it yet!)
This was well thought out and thought provoking. I noticed in the paragraph where you start talking about "Never Land" you wrote move instead of movie. I think there was one more typo, but the kids distracted me and I couldn't find it again, sorry.
The only part I would suggest tweaking would be where you said you were disappointed in the main character for not putting first things first. I've seen and loved "Never Land", so I would assume you were meaning his relationship with his lonely wife. But for a reader, the sentence doesn't add to your point as it is written.