Summer: A Season of Rest and Play

In our fast-paced, hyper-productive world, rest and play often seem like luxuries, distractions, or even signs of laziness. The spiritual life, however, offers a countercultural witness: rest and play are not peripheral to holiness—they are essential. The summer months provide an opportunity for each of us to recommit to a spiritual life that is marked by resting with the Lord, following Jesus call to “come away by yourselves to a deserted place and rest a while” (Mark 6:31).

From the very beginning, rest is part of God’s plan. In the Genesis creation account, after six days of creative labor, God rests—not out of exhaustion, but to delight in what has been made (Gen 2:2-3). The Sabbath is then blessed and made holy. Later, in the Ten Commandments, God enshrines this rest into the life of Israel: “Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy” (Ex 20:8). Sabbath is not just a day off; it is a holy interruption commanded by God that reorders our priorities and returns us to the source of life.

Jesus, too, honors this pattern. Although his public ministry is full of urgent needs—healings, teachings, confrontations—he regularly withdraws to deserted places to pray (Mark 1:35, Luke 5:16). He invites his disciples, after exhausting themselves in service, to do the same (Mark 6:31). The spiritual life cannot be sustained on constant output. Rest is not a break from the spiritual life; it is part of it.

Play may seem even more tangential to spirituality than rest, yet it bears a deep theological significance. At its heart, play is a celebration of freedom. True play is not productive; it is gratuitous, even wasteful by worldly standards. And in that sense, it mirrors the gratuitous love of God. We are not loved by God because we are useful, efficient, or effective. We are loved simply because we are His.

In this light, play becomes a sacred affirmation of our dignity as sons and daughters of the Father. It teaches us to enjoy life as gift, not just as a task to be accomplished. G.K. Chesterton once wrote that “man is more himself, man is more manlike, when joy is the fundamental thing in him.” In play, we echo God’s own delight in creation. Laughter, games, music, and hobbies—far from being distractions—can open our hearts to joy, wonder, and communion. They awaken us to beauty and give us a foretaste of the eternal joy promised in heaven.

In a culture addicted to productivity and self-worth based on achievement, rest and play are acts of resistance. They remind us that our identity is not in what we do, but in whose we are. When we refuse to be ruled by the tyranny of the urgent, we reclaim time as a gift from God. This does not mean laziness or escapism, but rather a rightly ordered life in which time for prayer, relationships, leisure, and recreation are intentionally protected.

In fact, both in our spiritual life and in our physical life, neglecting rest and play can lead to burnout, emotional fatigue, and even a distorted view of God. When we over-identify with our work, even in the Church we risk confusing our activity with our worth. We can begin to act more like servants earning approval than sons and daughters living in the Father’s house. Rest and play restore perspective. They return us to humility, reminding us that God is God, and we are not.

May the summer season be an opportunity for each of us to recommit to rest and play – whether we waste time with family or friends or “waste time with God” in prayer, these acts renew us in the joy and love that God both has for us and desires us to live each day.