One question many modern adults must ask themselves is, "What do I do with all this free time?" The world didn't always afford so much disposable time to society. Now it is a reality for most of us. We clock out of work before the sun is down and allocate the rest of our time however we choose. I want to consider the responsibility implicated by a Christian worldview on this time. How should we balance pleasure time with productive time? Each person, whether they realize it or not, develops a tolerance for this ratio. It is certainly expected that some amount of it will be used for leisure, but what is leisure? Must leisure activities be pleasurable and relaxing? How much fun is too much fun?
I've had this nagging feeling recently that my discretionary time is not being fully utilized. I could almost describe this as a sort of fear of missing out—always being anxious about the other more pleasurable thing that could be happening instead. It feels like I am not milking enough happiness out of each hour, yet the hours keep happening. The future shoves its way to the past. Hours, days, weeks, and months go by without stopping for my questions. This nagging feeling, combined with a general fear and anger towards the enterprise of entertainment led me to reassess the question. What do I do with all this free time?
One of the books that I stumbled across is called, "Religion and Leisure in America" by Robert Lee. His work helped me to diagnose my frenzied state of mind.
Religion and Leisure in America: A Study in Four Dimensions
To give oneself to time and to let the events of life "happen" is to open oneself to the meaning contained there. Unless this openness is present nothing has any ultimate meaning, and we will eventually become bored with ourselves, our leisure, and our world. If this kind of awareness is present, however, we will not need to seek only distraction (as Paul Elmen says, "The noisiest and most gaudy entertainment"), but may find within our own experience a variety of exciting, interesting, and challenging activities that will fulfill our leisure time. (247)
Dr. Lee splits his study into four parts: Width, depth, length, and time. He begins his study by describing the scope of leisure in America. In the preface, he states:
The burden of this book is to establish the seriousness and significance, indeed, the decisiveness, of the leisure situation facing us in contemporary life.
He goes on to explain how those from centuries ago did not experience this challenge.
Thomas More had visions of a nine hour workday, a sixty hour workweek, in his Utopia, published in 1516. From a leisure standpoint we are already living in Utopia...for what was on the periphery is now at the heart of man's daily existence.
It's staggering to consider that this was true in 1964: "The average adult spends an estimated quarter of his waking hours involved with the mass media—either viewing TV or movies or reading newspapers, magazines, and books."
He describes two motifs that characterize how Americans view leisure time: "first, a great sense of vacuity, of time emptied of meaningful activity; and second, an impression of determined frenzy to relax, to unwind, to do something different." That second one described me. I felt a little better knowing that people have been feeling like this for 60 years. But I needed answers. Rudyard Kipling described it this way: "The curse of America is sheer, hopeless, well-ordered boredom."
Dr. Lee explains how, over the centuries, the church has done much in teaching us how to think about work, but little on teaching us how to think about leisure. He criticizes the Aristotelian approach that Joseph Pieper takes in, "Leisure the Basis of Culture," saying that, "without an element of work in it, contemplation may well turn into accidie—sloth, idleness, boredom, and despair." He argues that leisure is not a "vacation from reality" but rather part of contemporary man's world of real existence. He claims, "It is not so much a question of the mind as it is a condition of the spirit."
The Antidote
Through the rest of the book, Dr. Lee uses the science of play, the history of holidays as holy days, the Puritans, the Sabbath, the Christian view of time, and other ideas to lay out his findings on how America can address the problem. I'd like to begin my reflection on how his conclusions impacted me with the following excerpt.
For one thing, Puritanism was rooted in a view of life as a unified whole under the sovereignty of God. Because work was their dominant necessity they did not see the other dimensions of life as "separate" within the total scheme of purpose and meaning. Attempts to speak to the leisure situation today have sometimes contributed to further fragmentation by divorcing leisure from the rest of life: We are free in leisure, unfree in work; leisure is unobligated time, the rest (work, family, sleep, eating et cetera) is obligated. The implication clearly is that leisure is the most desirable part of life because it is free and unobligated; the rest must be endured. No matter how much leisure time increases, however, it will have to be integrated with the rest of life if it is to be creative and meaningful. Often the person with a leisure problem, whether too much free time or too little, is the person who is just dissatisfied with his life as it is. To live abundantly requires a context in which all time and activities of life are contained and given significance...In terms of the Christian faith we are called to wrestle with our lives under God and find our response in terms of our own situation. "To have leisure to the glory of God" is perhaps our possibility and task.
It struck me here that the necessary step to experiencing "creative and meaningful leisure" is to stop thinking of time as fragmented into two distinct buckets. When we stop going into our leisure with the expectation that it is "unobligated time," we are increasing our ability to live abundantly in it. He shows how the Puritan worldview can help us because they acted in the world realistically and deeply, saying: "With worship and study at the center of activities, their faith then radiated out and pervaded participation in government, business, family, and social occasions." Their faith was the root of their lives that tied both work and leisure together and enabled both to have significance.
Have Leisure to the Glory of God
Dr. Lee shows how Christians hold a view of time that is unique from other worldviews. We see time as meaningful. We see it as moving forward toward a goal. We see it as a gift. We see it as something that God acts in. We see it as a resource for finding true meaning and joy in God. He uses the poem called "Lord, I have Time" by Michel Quoist to assist his point that we can't catch up with time, and that we must live in it conscientiously.
I am not asking you tonight, Lord,
for time to do this and then that,
But your grace to do conscientiously, in the time
that you give me, what you want me to do.
God doesn't need us to read dozens of productivity books to accomplish His plan. Obsessing over efficiency isn't what brings us joy or Him glory. Our motivations and intentions behind doing what we are doing is what matters. The conscientious person wishes to do what is right. If we are conscientious with our perspective of time and our use of time, we won't feel frantic as it rushes past us—we will feel it to be the right thing for us. The fact that we see our time as part of the larger story gives each hour its own meaning and infuses it with the potential of true joy. He elaborates on the significance of finding joy:
The true essence of life is joy. Blessed indeed is the man who has found this pervading sense of the joy of life which God intended in his creation. For the one who has found it, there is no power which can ultimately prevail against him. Though suffering and times of despair are never eliminated from human experience, they can become a means of deepening and making more vivid the sense of joy to which the person returns from the valley of the shadow. In leisure this true sense of joy can be nourished as the source of creative living and use of free time.
I often think of how my leisure time could nourish me, but I don't think about how I can nourish my leisure time. If these empty blocks of time are a garden, the fruit that is produced in that garden is dependent on my awareness and stewardship of it. What happens if we do not nourish that time? It turns into idleness.
For those who worry that leisure will merely be idleness, we can say that there is a distinct difference between idleness and leisure. Idle time is time that neither refreshes nor fulfills us. But if we pause in our work or in our play and perceive a moment of freshness, of purpose, of dedication, of grace, then we have experienced leisure and our lives are richer for it.
It is not in laying up treasures on earth that we buy or save time. Rather we are called as Christians to accept time as a gift and live it for the glory of God—giving and receiving, in seriousness and joy, in our work and in our leisure, for
'The heavens are the Lord's heavens, but the earth he has given to the sons of men.' (Ps 115:16).
Giving and Receiving in Seriousness and Joy
I love that phrase, "giving and receiving, in seriousness and joy, in our work and in our leisure." It captures what I think is Dr. Lee's primary point in his conclusion. Life should be lived seriously. A proper view of the reality of time as a gift leads us to live seriously and joyfully. We recognize the responsibility and also the magnificence. We must have a certain awareness in life. John Lennon is quoted as saying: "Life is what happens to you when you are busy making other plans." We don't just let life happen to us. Those who have this awareness of the meaning contained in time will not be driven to seek trivial distractions but will find a variety of interesting and creative activities to fill their leisure with.
To experience events in depth requires courage and it requires a trust that life is basically good in spite of the experiences of suffering and pain that seem to be part of it. For the man who has truly placed his life in the hands of God, because he has seen God's love and care in Jesus Christ, there is present an enabling power of awareness and sensitivity. It is possible that this assurance may come from another source, but for the Christian it has happened because of Jesus Christ—whereas we felt alien in the world, we now begin to feel at home.
So where is this awareness and sensitivity, Christian? Do you see it in your life? For me, that is the litmus test to apply when my leisure feels idle and does not refresh me. More stimulation is not the answer. The root problem is deeper down and the answer is the Gospel. One who has known the love of Christ doesn't treat their time like a fun spending account. Hours aren't just tokens that should be played in the most fun arcade games of life. Rather, they are to be treasured and carefully invested with the end in mind. We can't view the world properly unless we see the Gospel. It won't make sense to us.
The Committed Life is the Free Life
Dr. Lee emphasizes that the committed life is the free life. He points out that good goal setting is key to using leisure time effectively. Freedom of choice also plays a vital part in leisure: "The growth and fulfillment which comes in the exercise of this freedom in leisure is one of the greatest possibilities for the individual to realize in his choice of leisure pursuits." He goes on to say that freedom, "in its most profound sense demands commitment."
The Christian discovers that in committing himself to God in Jesus Christ he has become truly free, for in that relationship he is most himself. Whereas before he was in bondage to the past, to his guilt, to anxiety about the future, to his defensiveness—his commitment has made him free to live.
I have experienced this paradoxical reality in my life. A lack of commitment will eventually produce aimlessness or apathy. Dr. Lee says "We are most truly ourselves when we forget ourselves...Happiness and pleasure as goals to be pursued and attained are always elusive; they are rather 'by-products' of life." This explains the emptiness that results in splurging or indulging in self-pleasuring activities. Dr. Lee does point out that Christians don't forbid themselves from enjoying anything pleasurable, they just know the limitations and see it from the right perspective. He says it is neither a goal to be sought nor a necessarily derogatory experience. As soon as we make it our aim, we are blind.
In contrast to pleasure, Dr. Lee says that joy is independent of situation, and comes through relationships. He says it, "often comes to our consciousness when we least expect it, and is not limited in duration by its own nature." Every Christian has an abiding joy if they believe in God, even through suffering.
What is our aim in leisure? Dr. Lee says if we live creatively in joy, we will be freed to enjoy our leisure.
Instead of racing frantically in chase of a good time and filling the leisure hours with activity, he may rest in the rhythm of acting and reflecting, giving and receiving. "I have learned, in whatever state I am, to be content," Paul wrote (Phil. 4:11b), not meaning he has passively submitted to circumstances, but that he has found a peace in his conditions. If we are at a party with friends we need not be plagued by the thought that we might have had more fun if we'd gone to the movie, or if we are called to an important political or church meeting we need not fret unduly about missing our favorite television program. To live in anxiety about what might have been or what we missed is to wish our lives away and miss the joy of creative living.
This got me. It's true, and it aptly described the feeling that led me to the book. It hit me to realize that my tendencies may be "wishing my life away." The question I must ask myself is not, "What could I be doing instead?" but, "What ought I do in this moment?" This was the light bulb moment for me. The secret sounds too simple, but it's the answer I needed to hear. To take my current, boring moment, and live inside of it truly and fully—that's what I need to be doing. God didn't make us to live our lives in the past or the future. God said, "Be still and know that I am God" and Jesus said, "Have life and have it abundantly."
If I am sitting on the couch and my one-year-old is playing on the floor, I should engage in that moment fully, and play with him whole-heartedly. If I find myself in a circle of people at Church, I should be attentive to their lives and engage seriously in the conversation. If I am stuck in traffic and my podcast ends, I should take that moment to have a serious prayer, and not just keep finding another podcast to stimulate my brain. For me, this doesn't come naturally. If I am not being attentive, conscientious, serious, creative, and joyful with my time, I will just be the one who lets life happen to them. I will default to giving no effort while expecting meaning and happiness to show up.
Take Charge of Each Moment
Ultimately, we must not see pleasure as the end goal, but a byproduct. Our free time does actually come with its obligations. We must tend to these obligations dutifully lest we find ourselves in the trap of idleness. In this state, one finds no true joy. They only persuade themselves that time doesn't exist and that they have no responsibility in it. They numb themselves to reality and chase after fleeting and artificial dopamine. They succumb to the machine of entertainment. Whenever they do come back for a moment, they fret at the emptiness, and so they must continue to drown it out.
I think it's an intuitive thing to us that joy and meaning don't come from those little moments of distraction and uselessness that pile up in our days. Yet, we do little about it. It seems like too much work to find out and execute a better strategy for an available moment—so back to social media it is. What else is there to do now that dinner is cleaned up than watch our show? What about this couple of hours on a Saturday morning before an event? Blink and they have been flushed down the YouTube drain. Do I actually own my free time? Or does my smart phone?
Conclusion
So what is the antidote to failed leisure? This book helped point me in the right direction in a number of ways. In summary, these are some of my takeaways.
Don't think of time in terms of obligated vs unobligated, but consider each moment as important and in need of consideration. A constant awareness of the Gospel will help us live creatively and joyfully.
Remember that time has meaning.
Remember that time is a gift, and to "throw it away" is to discard of and despise the gift.
We don't need more time. We need more grace to act conscientiously in the time that we have been given.
We were made for relationships. Giving and receiving are robust uses of leisure that lead to meaning and joy.
Too much entertainment or mindless stimulation is not a robust use of leisure and can lead to the emptiness of idleness.
We were made to worship, so living with worship as the root of our work and leisure will feel most right. If self-worship is ultimately what drives our leisure, we will feel empty and not find meaning.
The committed life is the free life. Committing your time often has the paradoxical affect of causing you to feel more free, and allowing you to use leisure more creatively.
Hopefully these antidotes can help you experience your life and leisure more fully and deeply. If we see time as a gift and choose to live in it conscientiously, seriously, deeply, joyfully, and with worship as the root, I think we will see the idle waste get replaced by a robust and meaningful use of leisure time.