Play! Learning from our Friends - Jaco J. Hamman
Jaco Hamman is a wise man and friend who loves Young Life dearly. He serves as the teacher for YL’s training timeline class, “Personal Health and Ministry”. But more than that, his heart is keen for our friends with disabilities. He knows and understands the beauties and challenges that come with doing ministry with our friends with disabilities and speaks so beautifully into some unique ways that we can continue to learn from our friends.
1. Play is a way of living, not only an activity.
Our friends play, also with Jesus, daily and profoundly. Playing with Jesus might be blasphemy to some, but play between friends, irrespective of age, is normal (See John 15:15). Actually, not playing with Jesus and allowing His person to transform yours would be a concern. In our friends’ ability to approach life as play we recognize a maturity most adults lack. Most adults see play as an activity one engages in when not working, something reserved for special moments such as weekends or vacations. Our friends know better.
2. Play is about completion and cooperation.
Our friends find joy in partaking and celebrating. In our world, where there seems to be only winners and losers, play has become corrupted to return as competition. We have come a long way since Plato saw that purpose of playing (sport) as completion, coordination, and cooperation. Our friends rarely play to win or to the unreachable expectations of others. They are wise enough to recognize the foolishness of always wanting to win and of tying one’s personal identity to winning.
3. Play suspends time.
Our friends are not driven by the clock. Play, after all, suspends the perception of time. Playing in and with the moment they are experiencing, our friends are rarely plagued by the past or the future. Both can by tyrants. For those chasing the futurum, as Jürgen Moltmann describes the the self that lives by
the clock and calendars, our friends remind us of the adventus, that important moment when God suspends time by breaking into our reality. God promises us many adventus moments every day. Like rolling stones, we move to fast to notice.
4. Play instills a sense of freedom.
Our friends know emotional and spiritual freedom—they have experienced salvation and are rarely plagued by guilt feelings. Guilt feelings are those nagging thoughts that linger even after being prayed away. Guilt, as the transgression of a boundary set by God or another authority, is distinguished from guilt feelings, which are emotional and psychological and not moral or legal. Play, which cannot be forced, anticipates freedom from a dynamic such as guilt feelings as it frees us from moral conventions.
5. Play facilitates getting along with others.
Our friends embrace difference and practice hospitality in ways many persons can’t. While engaging in a play activity, social boundaries such as race, class, gender, sexual orientation or ability disappear. Embracing difference should come easy to those who follow Jesus, yet his followers are often strongly divided over difference. As our friends play in life we can discover a new way of being together and of forming community, of not needing to force our way in life and of rediscovering that a basic holiness permeates things and people. Our friends carry deep affection for others.
6. Play instills a sense of vitality and feeling alive.
Our friends exhibit exuberance about life. These traits, of course, as not forcing one’s way, recognizing holiness in others and having deep affection for others are fruit of the Spirit (Gal 5:22). Feeling alive and not merely living is also the gift of being playful and engaging life as play. Our friends’ vital exuberance and joy about life is contagious—and so life-giving to others!
7. Play is disruptive.
Our friends, through their play and their person reveal the folly of this world. Play, as the court jesters of old knew, is a wonderful way to expose the biases and assumptions of this world. Our friends expose the lack of societal compassion and of competitive paradigms that leave very few winners and a majority of losers. The call us to a life of social justice, which is a disruption to those in power.
8. Play seeks ways to continue.
Our friends can play, tirelessly. Play has a “continuation desire” as those preoccupied in play often refuse to stop the activity they engage in. One more song! One more…, please!! Our friends use the desire to continue in an activity to remain close to Jesus, to always be ready for one more song, another prayer, and for prolonging fellowship.
9. Play and prayer are closely related.
Our friends know how to pray! Jesus taught us to pray and we often engage in this intimate conversation with God. Spiritual director Margaret Guenther (in her Holy Listening: The Art of Spiritual Direction) reminds us that persons who cannot play often have difficulty with prayer too. She states good teachers can play. Our friends, like good spiritual directors, effortlessly move between prayer and play as they teach us about both practices.
10. Play leads to masterful living
Our friends are masters in the art of living. Philosopher L.P. Jacks wrote in 1932 that “the master in the art of living” makes little distinction between work and play, labor and leisure, mind and body, information and recreation, love and religion. “Masters in the art of living” find joy and passion in life, they can play when they pray, worship, study, work, and serve others. Our friends, no doubt, are masters in the art of living.
May we all receive the grace to learn from our friends as they invite us into a play space where God’s kin-dom and reign sets in. It is courageous to play, always!
Jaco has written multiple books, including “A Play-Full Life: Slowing down and seeking peace” which would be a great follow up read from this post for you.
Jaco is also on the Board of Friendship House which works alongside persons with intellectual and developmental disabilities (friends), their families and institutions to secure safe, affordable community-oriented housing.
We are honored to have Jaco contribute to our blog and to encourage us as we continue to do ministry with our friends with disabilities!
Play! Learning from our Friends
Our friends are a gift to us in so many ways. I want to highlight one: They teach us how to reclaim PLAY in our lives.
Play—those absorbing, seemingly unproductive, yet restorative and life-giving activities or that attitude that opens a way of living—is a gift from God. The word “play,” as used here, is rare in Scripture. Still, two references remind us that the play of children and the vulnerable are gifts from God that indicate God’s reign or shalom (See Isaiah 11: 6-8 and Zechariah 8:4-5).
The Dutch cultural historian, Johan Huizinga, wrote in his Homo ludens (published in 1938) that “We moderns have lost the sense of ritual and sacred play. Our civilization is worn with age and too sophisticated.” I can only imagine what Huizinga would say about our level of sophistication…! But then Huizinga never saw our friends and their love for play—all forms of play, from singing to partaking in skits to playing with Jesus!
If we allow our friends to teach us, we will discover much about faith and a life of play:
Jaco is also on the Board of Friendship House which works alongside persons with intellectual and developmental disabilities (friends), their families and institutions to secure safe, affordable community-oriented housing.
We are honored to have Jaco contribute to our blog and to encourage us as we continue to do ministry with our friends with disabilities!
Play! Learning from our Friends
Our friends are a gift to us in so many ways. I want to highlight one: They teach us how to reclaim PLAY in our lives.
Play—those absorbing, seemingly unproductive, yet restorative and life-giving activities or that attitude that opens a way of living—is a gift from God. The word “play,” as used here, is rare in Scripture. Still, two references remind us that the play of children and the vulnerable are gifts from God that indicate God’s reign or shalom (See Isaiah 11: 6-8 and Zechariah 8:4-5).
The Dutch cultural historian, Johan Huizinga, wrote in his Homo ludens (published in 1938) that “We moderns have lost the sense of ritual and sacred play. Our civilization is worn with age and too sophisticated.” I can only imagine what Huizinga would say about our level of sophistication…! But then Huizinga never saw our friends and their love for play—all forms of play, from singing to partaking in skits to playing with Jesus!
If we allow our friends to teach us, we will discover much about faith and a life of play:
1. Play is a way of living, not only an activity.Our friends play, also with Jesus, daily and profoundly. Playing with Jesus might be blasphemy to some, but play between friends, irrespective of age, is normal (See John 15:15). Actually, not playing with Jesus and allowing His person to transform yours would be a concern. In our friends’ ability to approach life as play we recognize a maturity most adults lack. Most adults see play as an activity one engages in when not working, something reserved for special moments such as weekends or vacations. Our friends know better.
2. Play is about completion and cooperation.
Our friends find joy in partaking and celebrating. In our world, where there seems to be only winners and losers, play has become corrupted to return as competition. We have come a long way since Plato saw that purpose of playing (sport) as completion, coordination, and cooperation. Our friends rarely play to win or to the unreachable expectations of others. They are wise enough to recognize the foolishness of always wanting to win and of tying one’s personal identity to winning.
3. Play suspends time.
Our friends are not driven by the clock. Play, after all, suspends the perception of time. Playing in and with the moment they are experiencing, our friends are rarely plagued by the past or the future. Both can by tyrants. For those chasing the futurum, as Jürgen Moltmann describes the the self that lives by
4. Play instills a sense of freedom.
Our friends know emotional and spiritual freedom—they have experienced salvation and are rarely plagued by guilt feelings. Guilt feelings are those nagging thoughts that linger even after being prayed away. Guilt, as the transgression of a boundary set by God or another authority, is distinguished from guilt feelings, which are emotional and psychological and not moral or legal. Play, which cannot be forced, anticipates freedom from a dynamic such as guilt feelings as it frees us from moral conventions.
5. Play facilitates getting along with others.
Our friends embrace difference and practice hospitality in ways many persons can’t. While engaging in a play activity, social boundaries such as race, class, gender, sexual orientation or ability disappear. Embracing difference should come easy to those who follow Jesus, yet his followers are often strongly divided over difference. As our friends play in life we can discover a new way of being together and of forming community, of not needing to force our way in life and of rediscovering that a basic holiness permeates things and people. Our friends carry deep affection for others.
6. Play instills a sense of vitality and feeling alive.
Our friends exhibit exuberance about life. These traits, of course, as not forcing one’s way, recognizing holiness in others and having deep affection for others are fruit of the Spirit (Gal 5:22). Feeling alive and not merely living is also the gift of being playful and engaging life as play. Our friends’ vital exuberance and joy about life is contagious—and so life-giving to others!
7. Play is disruptive.
Our friends, through their play and their person reveal the folly of this world. Play, as the court jesters of old knew, is a wonderful way to expose the biases and assumptions of this world. Our friends expose the lack of societal compassion and of competitive paradigms that leave very few winners and a majority of losers. The call us to a life of social justice, which is a disruption to those in power.
8. Play seeks ways to continue.
9. Play and prayer are closely related.
Our friends know how to pray! Jesus taught us to pray and we often engage in this intimate conversation with God. Spiritual director Margaret Guenther (in her Holy Listening: The Art of Spiritual Direction) reminds us that persons who cannot play often have difficulty with prayer too. She states good teachers can play. Our friends, like good spiritual directors, effortlessly move between prayer and play as they teach us about both practices.
10. Play leads to masterful living
Our friends are masters in the art of living. Philosopher L.P. Jacks wrote in 1932 that “the master in the art of living” makes little distinction between work and play, labor and leisure, mind and body, information and recreation, love and religion. “Masters in the art of living” find joy and passion in life, they can play when they pray, worship, study, work, and serve others. Our friends, no doubt, are masters in the art of living.
May we all receive the grace to learn from our friends as they invite us into a play space where God’s kin-dom and reign sets in. It is courageous to play, always!
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