I recently had the pleasure of going on a cruise to celebrate my
graduation from seminary. It was WONDERFUL in a lot of ways – it gave me a
chance to reconnect with the people who were with me, it gave me a chance to
rest, it gave me some time to myself, and it gave me a chance to be bored. Now,
hear me out. I know you’re probably thinking, “boredom doesn’t sound so great
to me.” Especially those of you with kids who frequently torment you with
complaints of boredom, or those of us who do everything we possibly can to keep
ourselves busy and free of boredom, probably don’t so much appreciate the
opportunities that it brings
But parents, friends, fellow workaholics, and plan enthusiasts, think
back to your years as kids. Remember those times when you had long summers off
or weekends when you didn’t have anything planned? Remember those times you
begged your friends to come over or your parents or siblings to play with you? Remember
when they said no? What did you do? Did you go outside and discovered that your
back yard was actually a pirate ship? Did you make up a game that didn’t
actually keep score of anything but could keep you busy for hours? Did you
climb a tree? Did you beat your previous record of how many times you could hop
on one foot? Did you draw a picture? Did you journal? What did you do when you
were bored?
I can remember some of my most creative inventions and most memorable
stories coming from those “I’m bored” moments. Perhaps boredom is needed.
Perhaps boredom is the gateway to creativity, and, consequently, a gateway to
God. I’m often reminded that as those people created by God in God’s own image
(Genesis), we are made to create as God creates – to create relationships, to
create other beings, to create love, to create memories, to create games, to
create moments… to create. We meet God in those moments, don't we? We get to see what life is really is when we live as the people God has created us to be.
Perhaps the enemy isn’t boredom. Perhaps the enemy is being
overinvolved. Maybe we are stifling the amazing things we could be doing by
filling all of our minutes, and hours, and days with work, and activities, and entertainment.
Do we ever just give ourselves a moment to be bored? Do we ever just take a few
minutes, a few hours, a few days to let creativity happen? Perhaps we are not
giving God an opportunity to use us creatively because we don’t give ourselves
a moment to just be. I wonder what my life might look like if I took more time
to be bored. Maybe I’ll do just that. Maybe I’ll find my backyard pirate ship
again. But may I’ll find an bigger treasure than that.
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