Shaun Lambert is a community member currently living in West Hampstead, London. He writes for the Baptist Times about ‘Finding guidance in today’s uncertain world’. See here.
Shaun Lambert writes about the gift of ‘free play’ and its link to creativity
I have been reading a book called Wayfinding by Michael Bond. It is about ‘the art and science of how we find and lose our way.’ Being good at finding your way is something that develops in childhood. Exploring is something we do naturally as a child. As Robert McFarlane puts it in his book Landmarks, when we are children ‘nature is full of doors…and they swing open at every step.’ In the world of imagination ‘A hollow in a tree is a gateway to a castle.’[1]
As we know, however, Michael Bond reminds us ‘the opportunities for children to wander have greatly diminished.’ What he calls a child’s ‘home range,’ how far they are allowed to roam from their home by their parents is drastically reduced right now.[2] This is largely due to traffic and the perception of ‘stranger danger.’[3]The rise of technology, smartphones and the virtual world have also contributed to this ‘living in our head’ rather than exploring our neighbourhood.
If you are reading this and from an older generation, you might have fond memories of going out on your bike all day or wandering around with your friends as a child, playing football in the streets. Clare, my wife, talks about a spinney and a stream they used to play in as children in Coventry. They would jump on their bikes to get there.
This wandering around without any particular purpose or structure is called ‘free play.’[4] Being able to wander about a larger space and work out how to navigate that space is very good for our children’s development. I am struck by how much children love Scargill. The house is a maze in which they can run around, and play hide and seek. They can get lost and find themselves again. They have the joy of discovering what feels like a secret room, or a magical wardrobe.
Then there is the space outside, the 90 acres of land. They can enjoy the playground, run through the meadow, look for butterflies, see a deer eating from the compost heap. They can meet a dog, cats, chickens – see swifts, swallows, house martins – hear the pheasants and curlews. They can look for water beetles, and newts in the pond (safely supervised of course)! They can paddle in the river Wharfe on a sunny day followed by an ice cream in Kettlewell village.
This year, at our three Summer Fests, children have been on our amazing waterslide, learnt archery, done treasure hunts, been introduced to singer-songwriters, actors, and magicians. At Scargill the community has learnt to trust the space around us, it begins to weave its spell of healing and freedom when allowed to do so.
Psychologist Peter Gray argues that ‘free play is the means by which children learn to make friends, overcome their fears, solve their own problems, and generally take control of their own lives…Nothing that we do, no amount of toys we buy or ‘quality time’ or special training we give our children, can compensate for the freedom we take away.’[5]
‘Play’ is of course a core value at Scargill and reflected implicitly in the community Pathway promises. I have seen it in action many times! Play leads to the release of creativity. Creativity is the antidote to our world of fear and uncertainty and the narratives that offer us no hope.
[1] Quoted in Michael Bond, Wayfinding (Picador, 2020), 23.
[2] Bond, 24.
[3] Bond, 25-26.
[4] Bond, 29.
[5] Peter Gray, Free to Learn: Why unleashing the instinct to play will make our children happier, more self-reliant, and better students for life (Basic Books, 2013, 5, quoted in Bond, 29.
Dear Scargill Friends
Thank you for your continued support and the love shown to us. In this mailing we have news of our latest magazine and programme release, and a reflection from Di about ‘sacred walking’.
We are glad to announce the publication of our new Programme combined with Momentum (covering new events from January to August 2023). We do hope that you find much to encourage you to continue to journey with us and to plan to book a visit to stay here, amongst the wide variety of events on offer both in-house and online. Please complete your booking forms via the website if at all possible.
We are all aware of the financial instability and struggles that many people are facing, please be aware of our bursary fund. You can access our bursary fund application form on each of our programme event booking web pages.
We mentioned in our last MailChimp that Hilary, our Kitchen Team lead who has done a wonderful job, is needing to step aside for family commitments, in the New Year. If you know of anyone who would be interested in joining Community with a particular gifting and passion to join the Kitchen Team please look on our website for the job description, or contact di@scargillmovement.org
Here is Di’s latest reflection. Enjoy!
Diane writes:
In a recent application I read the words ‘……spending time and learning about each other was so sacred, walking on the holy grounds of other people’s experiences.’
Wow, this line jumped out at me and I underscored it twice! It speaks of spending time and learning about each other as being sacred because it involves ‘walking on the holy grounds of other people’s experience’. Quite a profound statement that made me acknowledge what a huge privilege it is to be able to walk alongside another.
Holy Ground, hmmm, I wonder what they meant by that! I wonder what ‘Holy Ground’ means for you?
Betsy Jean writing for A Rocha says ‘When Moses was out in the desert looking after the flocks of his father-in-law, he saw the burning bush, he stopped, and turned aside to look and then to listen. Very quickly he found himself on holy ground. What made it holy, of course, was the presence of God, manifested in flaming shrubbery.’
She goes on to say, ‘What if, God, being everywhere (as Christian doctrine teaches us), makes every place holy? What if, every bush dances with the flames of God’s presence, but our eyes are just not calibrated to see it?’
Well, that’s a thought. If that is the case, and I certainly believe it is, we can also say – What if every bush, every street, every kitchen table, every time we spend with others, every conversation dances with the flames of God’s presence but our senses are just not calibrated to see it? What if indeed! Perhaps walking alongside one-another should not be taken so lightly.
The two travellers in our painting by Janet Brooks Gerloff (1947- 2008), are walking along the Emmaus Road completely unaware of Jesus’ presence. He was just another traveller who spent time with them, walking alongside, gently explaining the scriptures, accepting their hospitality, until they were able to recognise who he was and begin to comprehend the full significance of the journey they had just walked.
Like Moses, we need to be prepared to stop and turn aside, to look and to listen to where God is calling and like Jesus with his two companions we need to be willing to walk alongside, to tread gently on holy ground, with as Jacob said this morning, ‘Your (God’s) spirit in our steps and your (God’s) joy in our hearts.
To conclude, in our kitchen we have the most beautiful calligraphy of several blessings by John O’Donohue. One which I am constantly drawn to includes the words
‘Endeavour to remain aware
Of the quiet world
That lives behind each face.’
And another:
‘Be fair in your expectations
Compassionate in your criticism.
May you have the grace of encouragement,
To awaken the gift in the other’s heart,
Building in them the confidence
To follow the call of the gift.’
Perhaps this is how we walk on the sacred, holy ground of other people’s experiences. Perhaps this is the call we are being asked to follow!
With love and prayers from