My husband is from North Dakota so “snow day” is non-existent in his vocabulary. It needs to be near zero before he thinks you would bother donning a sweater (yes, he has pulled them out now). But I remember when our son Connor was in first grade, and we actually had a real snow day. Meaning neither of us went to work. I know it had to be a blizzard because back then Bob Cueni was our senior minister and he had started his career as a pastor in Petoskey, Michigan which formed in him the deeply held belief that the church office never needed to close for snow.
I remember this particular winter wonderland-type day because my friend Denise, a pediatrician, had to go to work at Children’s Mercy and her husband was out of town so she dropped off her two small boys at our house. So, with 3 boys under the age of 6 in the house, it was a total play day. Outside for snow fort construction and snowball competitions. Then back in for hot chocolate and snacks. Games, movies, legos, trains in front of the fireplace. Then back out for sledding and snowman building. What lingers now in my heart is the deep sense of joy and satisfaction I felt when Denise came well after dark and joined us for a simple soup supper around the dining room table with all six of us. I remember the warm glow of just being together around the table, the boys still reveling and laughing because play had been the only mission of the day, Dave and I exhausted but in that good kind of way that makes you feel at peace all the way down to the core of your soul.
All of this is to say that I believe play is essential to our well-being. God created us as human beings, not as human doings. And Jesus said “consider the lilies of the field, they neither toil nor spin…“. Psychologists tell us that play is good for the brain, restorative. We adults get very connected to the importance of hard work and the miracle of technology allows us to work 24/7. But children cannot contain their delight, their giggles, their longing to taste the snow. And Jesus said “Let the children come to me and forbid them not, for to such belongs the kingdom of heaven.” What would allow us to engage in that childlike holy wonder?
