Stewardship of Time: Our Recreation

Is there such a thing as a stewardship of recreation? Some people might dismiss the thought. But they’d be wrong. Author Thomas Cahill observes that, in receiving the Ten Commandments, the ancient Hebrews did something no other ancient society had ever done: they established a day of rest. The God who made the universe and rested bids us to do the same, calling us to a weekly restoration of prayer, study, and recreation (or re-creation).
 
This week begins July, the month when Americans celebrate the proclamation of our freedom. When the Hebrew people first received the Ten Commandments, they too had just received their freedom from the Egyptians after a sojourn in the wilderness. Cahill thinks it’s no coincidence that a people recently liberated were in need of a directive to rest and reflect. “Leisure,” he writes, “is the necessary ground of creativity, and a free people are free to imitate the creativity of God.” 
 
So, the next time you feel guilty about a quiet, reflective time of doing “nothing” remember that recreation also means “recreation” and that to be a truly creative person, a steward of our interior resources, we must honor our need to rest, relax, be with others, read and play. 
                —Diocese of Grand Rapids
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