Having a Heart in a Sometimes Heartless World
Day 243 – Ugly parodies of community
Scripture focus: It is obvious what kind of life develops out of trying to get your own way all the time: …ugly parodies of community… Galatians 5:19,21 The Message
Before we jump to all sorts of opinions about what an ugly community is, let’s look at the Greek word “komoi.” This word describes a person who can’t bear the thought of boredom and is therefore continually seeking different forms of amusement or entertainment. It describes someone who is antsy if they don’t have their next fun adventure to dream about, plan for and then participate in. In the King James Bible, this word is translated “revelings.”
Last week we went on a family vacation. We had a ton of fun. We played and were entertained and sought various forms of amusement. We definitely did not revel. One thing we particularly love to do is gather together in the evening for game night. During the day, small groups of like-minded McBeans pursue pleasure as they define it. Pete and his brothers and some of their sons hit the golf course. Now, it’s hard listening to the stories about their day – lost balls, hitting people’s homes with errant shots (while they’re sitting on their porch), slices, hooks, bad putting, picky marshals, extreme heat and mega-size gnats – to see the fun in all this. But it’s tradition. And they like it. Others of us play tennis, read, workout, eat, shop, or whatever. But at night, we band together for game night.
One night we didn’t have many game night participants. And my niece noticed. She said, “Hey, don’t the rest of you guys love this tradition as much as I do?” My niece is not reveling. She’s building community. She isn’t sitting at that table in hopes of winning at Pit or Cranium or Trivial Pursuit or even Apples to Apples. She wants to sit around the table, and for one night, have this part of her family all together, enjoying each other’s company.
Community should be a place of fun and amusement and delight – but there’s no place in healthy community for revelry. Revelry is about trying to get the mid-brain (the pleasure center of our brain) to fire up and sparkle like the fourth of July. It’s about distracting ourselves from other, more painful thoughts and memories. It’s about survival rather than savoring. Revelry is just another form of addiction - an obvious and fruitless attempt to get our own way all the time.
The following evening the game table was once again restored to full participation. It will forever reside in my brain and heart as one of my fondest memories. This part of family lives far away. The kids are grown up and had to set busy lives aside so that we could join each other at this table of silly fun. I hope they thought it was worth it – I know that for me, it was a great gift of love and community. Cara’s got it right – we all love game night. It’s not only tradition - it’s an expression of love and connection and community – the good life. May you find the good life God has promised you!
Recommended reading: Job 33 and 34 in the morning; Job 35 an 36 in the evening
Before we jump to all sorts of opinions about what an ugly community is, let’s look at the Greek word “komoi.” This word describes a person who can’t bear the thought of boredom and is therefore continually seeking different forms of amusement or entertainment. It describes someone who is antsy if they don’t have their next fun adventure to dream about, plan for and then participate in. In the King James Bible, this word is translated “revelings.”
Last week we went on a family vacation. We had a ton of fun. We played and were entertained and sought various forms of amusement. We definitely did not revel. One thing we particularly love to do is gather together in the evening for game night. During the day, small groups of like-minded McBeans pursue pleasure as they define it. Pete and his brothers and some of their sons hit the golf course. Now, it’s hard listening to the stories about their day – lost balls, hitting people’s homes with errant shots (while they’re sitting on their porch), slices, hooks, bad putting, picky marshals, extreme heat and mega-size gnats – to see the fun in all this. But it’s tradition. And they like it. Others of us play tennis, read, workout, eat, shop, or whatever. But at night, we band together for game night.
One night we didn’t have many game night participants. And my niece noticed. She said, “Hey, don’t the rest of you guys love this tradition as much as I do?” My niece is not reveling. She’s building community. She isn’t sitting at that table in hopes of winning at Pit or Cranium or Trivial Pursuit or even Apples to Apples. She wants to sit around the table, and for one night, have this part of her family all together, enjoying each other’s company.
Community should be a place of fun and amusement and delight – but there’s no place in healthy community for revelry. Revelry is about trying to get the mid-brain (the pleasure center of our brain) to fire up and sparkle like the fourth of July. It’s about distracting ourselves from other, more painful thoughts and memories. It’s about survival rather than savoring. Revelry is just another form of addiction - an obvious and fruitless attempt to get our own way all the time.
The following evening the game table was once again restored to full participation. It will forever reside in my brain and heart as one of my fondest memories. This part of family lives far away. The kids are grown up and had to set busy lives aside so that we could join each other at this table of silly fun. I hope they thought it was worth it – I know that for me, it was a great gift of love and community. Cara’s got it right – we all love game night. It’s not only tradition - it’s an expression of love and connection and community – the good life. May you find the good life God has promised you!
Recommended reading: Job 33 and 34 in the morning; Job 35 an 36 in the evening
Copyright 2008 NorthStar Community
No comments:
Post a Comment