This post is written by Pastor Doug Tritton of Grace Covenant Church as part of our inaugural Pastor’s Corner series. Pastor’s Corner is a new initiative of the Penn Epistle to seek and elevate the perspectives of pastors and ministry leaders on our campus. Posts will be published on a quarterly basis.
When I finished my penultimate year of college, a thought continually pressed against my mind. “This was the last summer break I would ever have.” As a maximalist, I was resolved to make the most of it. I wanted vacations, beaches, good food, friends, and video games. All the things that had defined summer in my life up to that point, I had to do them all. And that I did. That summer was one final replay of childhood before the new rhythms and responsibilities of the real world fully settled in.
Summer breaks are a relatively modern concept. In the United States, school officials developed the idea of an extended summer break due to a few factors. Many families would travel during the summer and thus take their children out of class. Also, with the rise of urban living in the industrial age, schools in the city would be very hot in the summer and there were no air-conditioning systems to cool those buildings. Plus, teachers needed extended time to plan and develop their curricula for the upcoming year. Thus, many U.S. schools started to shut down during the summer, and this eventually was adopted as the general practice of school districts across the country. Little did those nineteenth-century school officials know how this would eventually lead to the craziness of summer camp scheduling that parents feel as summer approaches, but that is a topic for another day.
Because of this history, summer has become a symbol of childhood joy and innocence. A time to forget the demands of school and get out of the house to explore, play, and dream. How many of you used to count down the days until summer break? Remember the thrill of the bell ringing on that last day of school, the sheer joy of running out those doors into the inviting embrace of the sun. Kids would shout, “school’s out for the summer” and dance gleefully together at the thought of endless days of play. Many movies and television shows have been made to reminisce on the sentimentality of those innocent, youthful summers. There is something special and endearing about that childhood summer.
Summer break is like an extended sabbath, a chance to forget the worries of life and just be. God gave the Sabbath as a time to stop and just live in creation. Sabbath is a picture of people living in perfect harmony with God and creation. The Sabbath was always meant to point forward to the ultimate hope of rest we have in Jesus and the eternal life we will share with Him. Perhaps these childhood summers are a little taste of the new creation to come. A foretaste of the hope of just being with our God forever, the eternal hope to explore, play, and dream in the new heavens and new earth. This childhood summer is a gift from God to take off the cares of the world for just a little bit and be like a child, unhindered in coming to Jesus.
Too often in college, we let summer act like a preview of our life post-college, a time to role play life in the “real world.” We fill our summers with internships and other things that will “boost our resumes”. We rush into adulthood as if it will leave us behind if we do not get there fast enough, like we are chasing a train leaving the station. But that train to adulthood will not leave you behind; it will always be waiting. You will get your chance to enter that real world eventually; you will not get the chance to have your childhood summers again. Why do we rush ahead to experience what is more difficult while running away from the innocence of childhood? Why do we yearn for the chains of a future career with all its obligations while abandoning the joyful freedom of childhood?
Nevertheless, our careers can be good. God calls us to work and be fruitful and productive in this world. Work is a beautiful thing when we see it as an extension of our worship. God is pleased when we work unto Him. But you will have plenty of time to work. The time to pause like a child, though, is time that will eventually run out.
Here is a challenge for this summer: be like a child. Do not pack in your schedule so tightly, stealing away from all the joyful innocence of your last few childhood summers. Jesus said, “Let the children come to me and do not hinder them.” (Luke 18:16). Do not hinder yourself from being a child that enjoys life with Jesus this summer. Go explore, play, and dream. Taste and savor the life that you have in this current season and do not rush ahead into adulthood. Your post-college years will be waiting. Trust me, they will come. One day you will be sitting inside on a beautiful summer day, pining for those days of childhood summer. You will wish you had a chance to replay the joyful innocence you once had. Do not rush ahead to that day while you still have the time.
I know many of you will have internships this summer. But what if you purposefully left some time in your summer to replay your childhood? To be like a child is to be content with God. To be still in a busy and chaotic world and live in trust of a good God who cares for you. These last few summers are precious. Do not sacrifice them to the gods of this age and miss out on a few last opportunities to replay your childhood, to be unhindered in coming to Jesus like a child. Perhaps you will get that little taste of new creation. Perhaps hope will burn in your hearts as you look ahead to a better country waiting for you in the new heavens and new earth.
A prayer for the summer: Lord, teach your children to not rush ahead. To not live so hurried, with our eyes fixed on the horizon. Teach us to meet you in the moment, in this summer. May we slow down so that we can enjoy and savor this season. Lord, thank you for the gift of summer and the gift of rest. May we rest well, unhindered in coming to You. Thank you for the gift of childhood. May we enjoy it as the amazing gift that it is and not quickly throw it away in order to advance our agendas. Thank you for Your good care and providence. May we trust in Your care more than our own. May we be like a child, fully content in Your love and care. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
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