Child's Play

Some mornings here, I wake up not to an alarm clock but to the beautiful sound of children at play. This sound is far from a nuisance, but a motivation, a reminder to me that there is a future that has not yet succumb to nihilism or hopelessness. That there are children who find places for joy, time for play despite the myriad of problems facing their country and the world. It is the screams, the claps, the laughs that remind me of the God who is still in control in the midst of chaos and of the God-given agency people have to overcome structural and societal impediments. If the children who will inherit the messes that have sought to depress me can play, run, and laugh…who am I not to? After all one of my expressed goals in life is to “work as seriously as a child at play.” Since the type of work I plan to do is social justice oriented…I gotta start taking notes.

Child’s Play is hard for me though, when my homeless friend on the street tells me how the cops beat him last night and shows me his scars. Child’s play is hard for me when I see a cop showing his billy club with a sadistic smirk on his face as I am talking to this young homeless boy. Child’s play is hard when I am given a 1,4000 rand stipend every 2 weeks- a sum greater than the monthly income for most families in this country, child’s play is hard when I feel like I have so much to give to this country but because of time and energy constraints I have only done a lot of taking.

Child’s Play is easy though, when at family dinners I find people who are motivated to change and just as deeply affected by the suffering around us. Child’s play is easy though, when one of my Stanford classmates tells me that he wants to develop a CS curriculum in the township he teaches at year around, Child’s play is easy when I go to Beth Uriel 3 times a week and the men articulate stories of hope and praise in their rap lyrics, Child’s play is easy when I think about how improbable my own story is, Child’s play is easy when I think about how improbable the transition from apartheid to democracy was.

Joy. Hope Against all Hope. Child’s Play. It’s the only way to survive a crazy, chaotic, world. The only way to battle injustice. The only way to not lose your mind. The only way to please God-because “without faith It’s impossible to please God” and there is no better way to demonstrate faith than to be a child at play- in the middle of a war.

Children at play are wise, they understand that play time is finite and that work begins..so they might as well have all the fun they can in the time they have. Child’s play.