Torch, Summer 1987

, A re "good works" burying you? Are you enjoying life less? Are you frantically working for Christ without rest? Have you given up laughter for God's work to do? Then you must read this article .. .it's written for YOU! According to the Westminster Larger Catechism of 1861 , the chief end of man is to glorify God and to enjoy Him forever. According to the message sent forth by many of our lives, though, the chief end of man is to work tire.lessly for God at a frantic pace and not to enjoy anything until Glory. What a sad perversion of God's beautiful truth , and an even sadder commentary on the poverty we choose to experience in this life compared to the riches of the abundant life that could be ours . As God's children , we have the indescribable pleasure of being able to know God and thus to be able to enjoy Him forever. Instead , we seem to have inadvertently adopted a value system that says what we accomplish is more important than who we are. But what does this have to do Hour do-you .4pd£ lleflefr'/ with recreation ? EVERYTHING' Everything, because recreation plays a significant role in helping develop who we are, and developing all that we are for God is one of the primary ways we can bring glory to Him. Recreation ... the very word tends to produce for many of us a discordant mixture of feelings. On the one hand, we recall the pleasant , warm memories of family vacations; the feeling of satisfaction upon completion of a hobby project; and the indescribable joy of making a hole-in-one on the golf course. But we've also had vacations that could kindly be described as "disasters ," hobby projects better left unfinished , and rounds of golf that make us consider taking up checkers. Some of us may experience feelings of guilt, embar– rassment, or even self-contempt when we find ourselves fully enjoying a recreational experience and suddenly remember the sin and sorrow that fill this earth. Should we experience enjoyment when there is so much sorrow? We may even wonder if we should ask forgiveness for ex– periencing such exhilarating pleasure , fulfillment, and enjoyment from something that is not a part of our work. We also struggle with the "works-oriented" mindset that any extra time should really be used for something more productive and more spiritual than recreation. Just what should a Christian's attitude toward recreation be? The term "recreation" historically stems from the Latin R-E-C-R-E-A-T-1-0-N