A Prayer for Play
by Rev. Dr. Amy Chilton on 04/25/24
As I am away for a time of rest and renewal with a gathering of other clergy women, I leave you this prayer.
Blessings,
Pastor Amy
God of levity,
Grant us a rest that permeates our waking hours. Mark our days with the recreation and playfulness of our youth. Restore to us the energy for mischief and creativity and competition that we’ve lost as we’ve gotten older. Put people in our lives who inspire us in our play. Game nights, karaoke, gardening, film – we want more than the binary of work and sleep. We want delight in the in-between, those moments of interior rest that can happen while we’re awake. Show us what forms of entertainment and what hobbies lead us into peace. And protect us from the lie that if we are awake, we should be working. Remind us that a light heart is not a heart that lacks depth. That our play does not negate our grief. Let us rest in the way we need to today. Amen.
From Cole Arthur Riley’s Black Liturgies: Prayers, Poems, and Meditations for Staying Human. New York: Convergent, 2024: 159-160.
