“We no longer expect children to endure boredom for a second. In our infancy we bounced balls, fed the rabbits, made a model with Mechano and watched the ascent and descent of a yo-yo. We also read books. Our meals were pretty predictable, and a visit to the local park was an event. Today visits to the zoo, bouncy castles, jumping on a trampoline are routine necessities. Daily playgroups and day-nurseries fill every vacant minute with watching videos, learning how to play with computers and bouncing on the soft-play. Everything is wound up to a pitch of noisy razzmatazz. The toys children play with are made of garish plastic of primary colours. The child who would cheerfully have eaten mashed potatoes and vegetables every day is now encouraged to stimulate its palate and develop a taste for chillies, aubergines, vindaloo curry or garlic.

A.N. Wilson has written, “Pascal said that all human trouble stemmed from our inability to sit quietly in one room. If he was right, then we have serious trouble ahead, with an extraordinarily restless, vacuous generation of human individuals waiting to take over the world. The lesson of how to be bored must be learnt if the child is to grow up sane, and this is for two reasons.

First, boredom is what most human lives consist of. Few jobs are interesting all of the time; and when retirement age has been reached, the long days of emptiness cannot possibly be entirely devoid of tedium. Learning how to cope with these periods of vacancy can actually reduce, or eliminate their boringness. A human being who has only grown up with the notion that he or she must be stimulated all the time will never be able to assuage ennui in the way that we grown-ups do – by walks, gardening, crosswords, or the inner life.

And this is the second and greater reason for hoping that a child will learn how to cope with an eventless afternoon. Out of what feels like boredom comes the capacity to be inward. Unless you have been bored, an essential part of your imagination will never have been allowed to grow. Stories, poetry, prayer and mathematics, all activities which have stretched the human race…have developed out of its capacity to live with boredom.”

This excerpt comes from ‘A Child Was Bored in the Service | Banner of Truth’

http://banneroftruth.org/us/resources/articles/2001/a-child-was-bored-in-the-service/

This is the view I’ve been enjoying for the last week. We are here once again camping by the creek on my parents’ farm just outside of Murwillumbah, NSW, Australia, with two other ministry families. It is a refreshing time! There are 6 adults and 9 children aged 8-17, and Mia the Maremma (dog). We have been exploring the book of Esther and devotional treasures from John Piper. Swimming, cards, reading and puzzles are the regular activities, as well as eating! We even have a shower operated by a car battery and a flushing real toilet!

Wherever you are I pray that your future hope lies not in the resolutions you make or keep, or in the happiness of circumstances that come your way. Rather may your hope lie in the good news of Jesus Christ and the salvation he won for you.

I pray (in the words of Larry Crabb):
“You will see Him clearly to the degree you clearly see your need for him, not for the blessings of a good life now but for the forgiveness that guarantees you your best life forever.”
(66 Love Letters, p.186)