Playing at change

Today is Thursday so my opportunity to play with the under fives at the Angels group. Angels is what church looks like if your under five or you care for an under five. Hymns are replaced by action songs, bible readings are replaced by bible stories, and communion… snacks and juice: shared around a table, it certainly looks like communion.

A funny thing I’ve noticed is that since Amos my grandson was born I am much more comfortable getting down on the floor and playing with the children… they just seem more interesting. It's almost as though I am learning to play again from them.

Today was, the beginning of red nose day so many of the children were dressed up as anything from Noddy to a bee. Margi came as a very convincing pirate, I came as a very convincing vicar… because I forgot. Incidentally it is a cause of constant regret that since I became a vicar I have never been invited to a vicar and tarts party. All the same we raised the best part of £100.

Tonight I was talking to the wives’ group at church about renaissance and it reminded me how much I miss Yorkshire Forward. They were willing to invest in Mytholmroyd and more surprisingly prepared to invest in me. I am literally a changed man because of meeting them. We are a changed community because they came to town. Change is a bit addictive or rather being changed is addictive.

Now, rather than relying on others to change us we have to become agents of change and it’s much harder work. Perhaps if we can find a way of making change more like playing it might feel a bit easier. Because children change through play could we change by playing. Playing with ideas instead of toys, learning to try and maybe even to fail. That's how children change, that's maybe how we change.