Weaving Together the Beloved Community Summer Fun

“Summer is a great time to wind rhythms and practices of rest, celebration, pleasure, fun, and play into our calendars”

Biblical scholar, Richard A. Horsley, has said that early Christianity can be defined in two words or a single phrase: anti-imperial. That definition comes out of strong Jewish roots that began with liberation from Egypt and the restoration from Exile.

In those roots, we can find the most anti-imperial practice and way of being found in the Ten Commandments - given more mileage than any other commandment - Sabbath.

Sabbath is an intentional rhythm and practice that says we were not destined to work ourselves 24/7, to have no opportunity for rest, celebration, pleasure, fun, and play.

Books with those themes are flying off the shelves: Rest as Resistance, Pleasure Ethics, Sacred Rest. Clearly, people are feeling the heat of what it means to live in empire where our self-worth is driven by work.

Summer is a great time to wind rhythms and practices of rest, celebration, pleasure, fun, and play into our calendars. How will we be faithful? How will you be faithful? What is something you really enjoy doing that you could now make a part of your weekly calendar?

Maybe you love to sit and read? Or enjoy a good hike? You want to schedule an afternoon nap? You need to get out dancing? You love playing volleyball with friends? Playing bridge?

All of these are God’s want and wish for you. Safeguarding these is an important part of being faithful so that you forever know that God wants our collective joy. How do we create a whole environment that is conducive to rhythms and practices of rest, celebration, pleasure, fun, and play?