Call me crazy ... I've been called worse! Yesterday I engaged my middle-aged frame in college-age activity. I asked impossible things of muscles that haven't been used in decades. Why did I do it? The simple answer is ... for fun.
I dressed in one of my suits, tightened up my tie, and jumped into the fray. I completed a smooth lateral move snatched the football out of the air and landed on my right side cradling the pigskin. My shoulder sank into the mud a full six inches as muddy water splashed into my face and down my Windsor-tied collar. I played tackle football with kids less than half my age in our water-soaked, muddy back yard.
This all started when I had a load of rich soil delivered to my backyard to fill in the flower boxes and new lawn that we are putting in. So in my yard were piles of dirt that I had to spread and level out ... then an idea struck me. Why don't I get a bunch of college students to level it out for me, call it a "Mud Bowl" and play tackle football? This would level it out and would settle it down. I got the irrigation going and the next thing I knew I was standing in the middle of my yard, calf deep in mud, wearing one of my old suits, white shirt, and tie covered in a dark, gritty goop. But I had fun: painful, paying for it for the next few days, smiling with dirt in my teeth, still trying to wash my thinning hair, fun.
Once in a while you just have got to cut loose. Once in a while you have just got to throw image and pride to the wind and have fun. One comment I heard was: "I can't believe my Pastor is playing tackle football in the mud in his suit!"
When was the last time you just had fun? For no reason other than the fun of it? When was the last time you laughed so hard you cried and your cheeks hurt for days afterwards? We need to have fun and laugh; our bodies are built that way and will break down in many ways if we don't. As I washed off the caked mud from my body I couldn't remember the last time I had such good, clean fun.