America's Past Time

Well folks baseball is in full swing again and for you Philly fans, half swing (hehehe).  Only kidding, they look like they've got another good team this year.


Ive got a friend who is from India and he visited with me a while back and what he said to me stuck like glue.  We Americans know about the big four: baseball, hot dogs, apple pie, and Chevrolet.  I think thats actually a song, and why not, its a microcosm of what our American heritage is.  They represent the simple, down home, American life and in its most cheerful season, summer. These are our "past times."


Im renting a home that is completely furnished with a nice TV, video games, wireless internet, DVDs, a slipn'slide, and a fork (sorry for the dry humor, I crack myself up).  This brings me back to my friend who visited.  When he entered the home he said "wow, look at all the time passes." "Time passes" I thought to myself, these worlds still wring in my ears.  A time pass, a waste of time.  What is it that we are passing time for and what is it that we are passing time until.


His words made me think about how these new "time passes" have become our new past times! Yes we still have baseball (steroid ridden, marketing juggernaut you cant afford to take a family too), apple pie (with ice cream please), hot dogs (could do without these), and Chevrolet (Government Motors). Its no wonder we are trying to pass time, our time is fraught with struggle and strife, we have lost our simpleness and perhaps our innocence.


Scripture asks that we approach our faith as children do their parents.  We need to get our innocence back and our simpleness will follow.  My life is so full of distractions from my loved ones and my faith.  Its so easy to be pulled away, especially with all the technology we have in this day and age.  We need to relearn our past times and live in the moment so that they dont simply become time passes.  Every moment should be spent in relationship, relationship with others, our God, or ourselves, we need time for each.  We need to recreate to heal but not to the point that recreation becomes frivolous or wasteful.


My man St Francis Desales had a good point, "We must occasionally relax the mind, and the body requires some recreation also. Cassian relates how St. John the Evangelist was found by a certain hunter amusing himself by caressing a partridge, which sat upon his wrist. The hunter asked how a man of his mental powers could find time for so trifling an occupation. In reply, St. John asked why he did not always carry his bow strung? The man answered, Because, if always bent, the bow would lose its spring when really wanted. “Do not marvel then,” the Apostle replied, “if I slacken my mental efforts from time to time, and recreate myself, in order to return more vigorously to contemplation.” It is a great mistake to be so strict as to grudge any recreation either to others or one’s self."


I think a modern adaptation would have St. John swinging a Wii remote!! (please dont try to caress a partridge)  Have a great week!