Is "Having fun" a waste of time?

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There is a reason why the word is called re-creation.

Recreation is a time for us to relax and revive ourselves so we can continue to engage in our temporal and spiritual works. So a time for recreation is good, esp if it helps us with our temporal and spiritual duties.

However, recreation is bad when it harms us spiritual or hinders our temporal duties.

I pray this helps.

God bless
 
Lara said:
But there are vast differences in the quality of one’s recreation. Say a person just likes to read craigslist ads all day or play video games? This is far different than somebody who takes up a musical instrument and joins a community orchestra, supporting the conductor’s livelihood. But I’m not going to get much traction here if people think any hobby is equal to another.
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No-one is saying all hobbies are equal, however there is nothing to say we cannot take a little time for the things of less obvious value that we enjoy.
 
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Thank you all for your replies! You all gave me a lot to think about. I would agree to an extent that some forms of entertainment are “better” than others. For example, doing something creative with a family member is not only creative, but also a bonding experience, and thus “better” than say, “watching a movie by yourself”

I just worry about if it is bad to not always choose the absolute “best” option. What if I am tired, and want to watch a movie by myself? Or play a game? I like to lump Movies, Reading Fiction, Video games, into the category of “fiction” as they are fantasy worlds. I may prefer video games over movies, and fiction books, but they are all 3 fantasy worlds in which we “escape” into.

I would argue though, that fiction can be mindless entertainment, but that it can also teach us life lessons by experiencing things virtually that we can’t, or wont experience in reality. So I think it is the duty of fiction creators (movies, books, games, etc) to craft narratives, and experiences that will make the participant a better person from the lessons and experiences in said fantasy.

You guys bring up so many great points. Another point mentioned was that every hour spent playing games (or other fun activity) is although an hour spent not praying, it is also an hour not robbing banks. Maybe it is our goal as Christians to desire to continually pray forever (That’s what heaven is right?) but maybe we wren’t there yet in our journey. Maybe an hour a day is the most we can do before we get borred out of our mind. Better to play video games than watch porn, or commit crimes.

Also, since video games, movies, books, and music are here to stay, and a big part of our culture. It makes sense that we need good people in these industries to offer good options. I love a good FPS game like the next guy, but I get tired of seeing the same game over and over. Here’s a gun, go kill things. We need more options. I don’t think kids should be playing really violent video games, so we need good games for them to play, just the same with books, movies, and music.

There’s no way we can be leaders in these industries if we ourselves don’t also partake in these activities.

I also like the point made about supporting other’s artistic expression.

Thank you all gain for your replies! I really appreciate it!
 
Jimmy Carter has fun … enjoys …working on other peoples’ houses.
 
misstherese said:
Video games are not bad inherently, but do they help us grow to be saints? Probably not.
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Maybe not for everyone, but I think they can, just like all the arts can. Whenever they cross the line from being just mindless entertainment, which is okay but neutral, any art can be a harmful form of lazy escape, or it can be an inspiration to want more from life than just the mundane creature comforts our materialistic society says will solve all our problems. It all depends on the person enjoying it. I think video games are no exception to that. So just like good books or films or operas, they can be better than neutral if they somehow inspire a person to want something higher. And I don’t think it’s at all unusual for video games to affect people in that better way, it’s just that since video games can lend themselves to addiction, that’s what people focus on the most about them. But I personally know many examples of people who have been inspired to aim higher by good video games in similar ways as people would be inspired by reading a good book or watching a great play. They can be a good thing. But too much of a good thing can always be dangerous.
 
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Hi, Lara!

I fully concur!

St. Paul said it like this, “everything is permissible but not everything edifies.” (paraphrased)

So he commanded that we study everything but keep only what is good (what is pleasing to God).

Maran atha!

Angel
 
BMan said:
I just worry about if it is bad to not always choose the absolute “best” option. What if I am tired, and want to watch a movie by myself? Or play a game? I like to lump Movies, Reading Fiction, Video games, into the category of “fiction” as they are fantasy worlds. I may prefer video games over movies, and fiction books, but they are all 3 fantasy worlds in which we “escape” into.
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I think that when we commit to something it could be the Narrow or wide path/road–ie: my income is limited… I went to the supermarket and bought somethings… as I came out there was a woman sitting near the exit… she remained silent but she gave me a look quite reminiscent of those children in those infomercials about hunger or the refugee crisis… I fought myself as I can ill-afford to throw money away… just as quickly as that thought hit me, a second thought also hit me… I bought a chocolate bar for two dollars… I ate some of it as I shopped… could this person not be deserving of my gift of a dollar?

I did it for Jesus’ sake… I did it because her eyes pleaded with me to consider that she had human dignity–a Gift from God!

This is how we can enhance our own existence and Give to God the best (as Abel), instead of the whatever Cain offered.

…which brings us back to can we “pray, always?”

Maran atha!

Angel
 
Haven’t read all the responses, but no, I would not say having fun is a waste of time. It’s called ‘re-creation’ for a reason: by blowing off steam and diverting yourself from the serious stuff you have to do you’re actually freeing up your mind to creatively problem-solve and look at things from a new perspective. Without having fun life would be unbearable.
 
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I am close to retirement, I plan on having as much fun as I can have.
 
Also, aren’t there certain video games that are geared towards helping the older folks? They function like brain games that keep certain mental functions and hand / eye coordination whole?
 
There are similar games that help children with autism/adhd. When my oldest son was treated for being on the spectrum, we were recommended playing games like TheSims together because they trained making daily choices, empathy and understanding the needs of others.
 
There is a story from the life of St Dominic Savio. One day he and his friends were playing ball. the conversation turned to “What would you do if the world were to end in the next 30 minutes?” Some of the boys said that they would run to find a priest and go to confession. Others said that they would run to the nearest church and pray. St Dominic said that since he was a kid and they were supposed to be playing ball and that that was the will of God then he would continue playing ball.
 
God created our capacity for pleasure and enjoyment just as he created our capacity for work. As long as out desire for enjoyment doesn’t interfere with our love of the Lord, then it’s good.

Of course we can praise God with our fun. I love to kayak. I thank God often when I am out on the river as it gives me a chance to think about the great thing it is to be able to take joy from His creation.
 
Time is precious. We cant get it back.
Spend your time here on earth profitably.
Detach yourself from very silly worldly things -
that add NOTHING to your soul’s redemption.
 
They take away nothing from your soul’s redemption though. And they can give the opportunity to praise God in a different way.
 
This may or may not be popular, but if I’ve had a particularly hard week at work as an EMT, I might spend several hours or the majority of the day on my first day off playing video games unless I have other plans already.
 
After a long day at work, I’ll have a glass of wine and watch sports for a few hours, so I know what you mean!
 
For me, after I’m done working for the day which is 13+ hours, I watch maybe one show and then I go to sleep. So, not much down time at all.

This is my way to decompress ans rest.
 
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