Awake,...to what?
A day of play together underneath the sun
It took me a while to name my podcast. What did I want it to represent? What did I want listeners to consider when hearing the name? I called my podcast Sojourners, Awake!, endeavoring each one of us awaken to a creative spirit.
Sojourn - to spend a day together
Day - “time under the sun”
Awake! - “a call to action”
If a sojourner is you and me, walking together underneath the sun in life, then what is the call to action? To what do we awake?
Play.
I can’t prove it scientifically, but I know that as a child, you played games. Within your innocent core, as with every child, the imagination and dreams stemming from your soul moved you to play. And you played because, your parents cared for everything else.
Somewhere along the way, someone stopped caring for you and you had to work. You had to care for your needs and care about everything else. Should I remind you that we live in the information age where not only do you have to know about everything, but must also subscribe to an opinion on each topic? Awareness is a new religion.
Combine that with the burden of work to survive and yes, it is no wonder you stopped playing.
Now, I know that from a child, you mature into an adult. But Jesus called you “little children”. He wasn’t insulting you. He was reminding you of a truth that you have forgotten. We didn’t listen to the command “do not worry.” It’s just so hard not to worry when we have the world events up in our faces 24/7. How can we not worry?
So, we worry. And that’s why he reminded us that we are children. Because a child only plays when he or she absolutely believe that their cares and needs are already met.
Show me a child running up and down a slide upon a playground and I will tell you that they are not worrying about a thing. Show me a child playing knee deep in the pool and I will tell you she doesn’t care. Show me a child coloring feverishly; I will tell you again, he does not worry or fret.
He plays. And this is why I believe we should play: because at the moment we submit to play, we also submit to a life free of worry and therefore living in faith that the kingdom of heaven is not far away and distant, someplace yet to be. Rather, it is here, now and within our grasp.
So, play, even as an act of faith. As a child, and as a believer, play. And up to this truth, is what the sojourner awakes.