Don’t Ignore the Need for Entertainment

TOO LITTLE IS AS BAD AS TOO MUCH

IN TIMES past when the work ethic was held in high regard, many viewed play as a waste of time. Now the pursuit of pleasure is for many the main purpose in life. However, work and play should balance each other.

The right kind of work gives meaning and purpose to life. Proper play refreshes the tired worker, is a welcome change that re-creates a zest for more work. Too much work over too long a time exhausts the body and depresses the spirit. Extended vacations that go beyond the refreshment needed become boring. Don’t overdo the one while ignoring the other.

We should not make the mistake that the Puritans did and view all fun as wrong. Eating is not to be condemned because of gluttony. Drinking is not outlawed because of drunkenness. Nor should entertainment be frowned on because extremists abuse it. Our concern should not be rejecting entertainment, but, rather, determining the right kinds and the right amounts.

Enjoying the Outdoors

People are turning to beaches, mountains and parks in such vast numbers that in some places overcrowding is becoming a problem. Yet these areas do offer an infinite variety of entertainment—walking, swimming, jogging, backpacking, camping, picnicking, nature study, and so on.

But it is not necessary to travel such distances. Many live where woods are nearby. Even in the backyard, birdhouses and bird-feeding stations can be erected. Or lie on your stomach sometime and observe a square foot of grass or weeds, and you will be amazed at all the activity of bugs and ants and spiders that will fascinate you. Do you live in a big city, an asphalt jungle? Even there, parks and zoos are available. Museums and planetariums delight and instruct.

Parents, plan such activities for your children. Give them some direction, some stimulus by pointing out the possibilities. Maybe you can tell them the life cycle of a butterfly or an ant. Satisfy your children’s curiosity about Jehovah’s creation. This is an entertaining way of interesting your children in Jehovah God and his earthly creations, teaching them about his purpose for earth and for them as earth’s caretakers. Do as Job 12:7-10 recommends: “Ask, please, the domestic animals, and they will instruct you; also the winged creatures of the heavens, and they will tell you. Or show your concern to the earth, and it will instruct you; and the fishes of the sea will declare it to you.”

Sometimes work itself is a recreation. A man working in an office, or a student poring over books all week, may find working in the yard relaxing, or the establishing of a small garden a satisfying project. Even in a big city there might be a small plot of ground available. Or a window box where some flowers or herbs might be grown. Many people find indoor plants a fascinating hobby that adds beauty to the home. Canaries or other birds may be kept indoors. Aquariums are fascinating projects.

There are many ways of bringing Jehovah’s interesting creations indoors for study and entertainment. Here again it is a matter of using some imagination, and of parents directing the interests of children into the various possibilities.

Hobbies

Small children delight in making mud pies! Mothers are not too enthused about this, however. But it is simply dirt, and water easily eliminates it. This fun can be turned into a hobby as the child gets a little older. The mud can become clay and the pie can become pottery. This is quite an interesting handicraft, one long practiced with great instinctive skill by different members of the wasp family. (One is even called “the potter wasp.”) Other hobbies could be making macrame hangers for flowerpots, projects in sewing, knitting, cooking, leatherwork involving braiding and embossing, and many others.

“Window shopping” is an activity that makes many strong men tremble, but many women and girls relish it. Mothers can even make it instructive. Prices, quality, bargains and economic principles can be discussed. It is also an inexpensive excursion, especially if it is indulged in when the stores are closed.

Another interesting source of entertainment that is also educational is visiting factories. Take the family through a printing establishment, a newspaper office, a textile plant, a chocolate factory, an automobile plant or a coal mine. Many factories conduct tours, and to see how many everyday products are manufactured is extremely interesting and entertaining. A trip through a steel mill, for example, could easily become the subject for a written or oral report in the classroom.

Strictly for Fun

Entertainment does not always have to be educational. It may be just for the fun of it. This will also have value. It will recreate and refresh both young and old for the more serious affairs of life.

However, people’s interests differ. What interests one may bore another. A person’s sex can also make a difference in his or her interests. Also one’s age! Older persons should not think the young will always be content to sit and talk or read or play checkers just because they are. Teen-agers are bursting with energy that needs release. They may crave a game of baseball, volleyball, badminton, handball, basketball, soccer, or some other active recreation.

Maybe two or more families can go to the park and have a picnic. Afterward those who wish may visit and talk, others with pent-up energy may release it by means of one of these games. If there is good-natured competition no harm is done; but if winning becomes all-important then arguments are raised and the fun is spoiled.

Smaller children may find swings to play on, or a sandbox to use. Even empty cartons or a few sticks or blocks of wood become houses or caves, or airplanes or cars, or whatever the children’s active imagination chooses to make them. Many times expensive toys lie idle as children spend all afternoon on a sandpile or playing with a large carton, their imaginations turning these into whatever suits their fancy of the moment. A plastic fire truck costing 20 dollars is always a fire truck. But a big cardboard box—Ah! that can be anything!

Adults enjoy watching children play, or watching the ball game others are playing, and maybe even joining in as they feel up to it. Families together in this way become better families, more closely knit, and generation gaps are avoided. Also, this arrangement provides for supervision where it is needed. If all are in agreement as to the worship of their Creator, then the spoiling of good habits by bad association is avoided. (1 Cor. 15:33) Congregations may increase in brotherly love and understanding when families not only study and preach together but also enjoy clean recreation together.

Music and Dancing

Some family members may be musically inclined. Learning to play an instrument is challenging and satisfying, and may also become a source of entertainment to listeners. If two or three or more from Christian families do this, they may eventually play together both for their enjoyment and for the pleasure of listeners. Others may even wish to dance to the music that is played.

There is nothing wrong with music, singing or instrumental, or with dancing. Instrumental music and singing were involved in Jehovah’s worship in Israel. Young and old danced to music, sometimes singly and at other times in group dances. (Ex. 15:20; Ps. 87:7; 149:3; 150:4; Judg. 11:34; Jer. 31:13; Matt. 11:17; Luke 15:25) On one of these occasions an objection was raised to vigorous dancing, but not with Jehovah’s approval.—2 Sam. 6:20.

However, dancing is like the eating and drinking mentioned earlier: it may be good or bad, depending on the control exercised. Music may be soft and flowing, or it may have a strong beat, but it should not be raucous or so loud that it endangers a person’s hearing or disturbs others. The dancing is not good or bad depending on whether it is slow or fast, but if it becomes sexually suggestive or stimulating, it goes beyond proper entertainment!

Experience has established the need of proper supervision for such occasions, not, of course, to curtail proper clean, innocent fun but to curb extremes that imperil Christian morality. Even the waltz can become immoral in certain environments. Folk dances, square dances and most modern dances can be properly enjoyed, but, in wrong surroundings, they can also degenerate.

Reading and Conversation

There are good books and magazine articles that can entertain, but there are also those that damage morality. The latter should “not even be mentioned among you” who are Christians. The standard should be those things that are true, virtuous and praiseworthy.—Eph. 5:3; Phil. 4:8.

The same guideline would apply to movies and television. There are still some motion pictures that are clean and properly entertaining, but they are becoming the exception rather than the rule. Many television programs still are relaxing and educational. Documentaries cover science, natural history, current happenings and other interesting fields. They, along with good reading, equip us to converse enjoyably with one another.

Converse? Yes, conversation is not dead. The desire for it is still shown by the popularity of television talk shows. But many people seem no longer able to converse interestingly. They talk but do not communicate stimulating thoughts and ideas. However, even such persons can be drawn out to reveal interesting facts about themselves. Their childhood, their first job, why they decided on their particular career, how they came to accept their religion—questions drawing them out on such topics result in surprisingly interesting conversations.

If we are perceptive, courteous, tactful and sincerely complimentary, others who normally are quiet will respond and communicate freely. Being interested in them makes you interesting to them. Soon a two-way, or four- or six-way conversation is flowing along, to the enjoyment of all participants. Conversation fascinated the Greeks and their visitors in the first century of our Common Era: “All Athenians and the foreigners sojourning there would spend their leisure time at nothing but telling something or listening to something new.”—Acts 17:21.

Read, observe, listen, think and you will have fresh new thoughts to contribute to entertaining conversations. Avoid being argumentative or dogmatic. That kills communication. Be pleasant and tasteful, a delightful conversationalist.—Prov. 15:1; 16:21-24; 25:11; Eccl. 12:10; Col. 4:6.

In conclusion, don’t just deny objectionable entertainment. Give suitable alternatives. If your religion blanketly condemns all entertainment, your children will leave you and it as soon as possible. So don’t leave an entertainment vacuum. (Matt. 12:43-45) The following article offers additional entertainment possibilities.

Playing Indoor Games

IN THE evenings, and especially during winter months, outdoor activities may be limited. What can you do for entertainment within your own home?

Watching TV is a favorite pastime. Yet it tends to kill conversation, severely limiting any real interchange between persons. How, then, can families enjoy themselves together?

Some outdoor sports can be played in a scaled-down, modified form within the home. Tennis is an example; in many homes table tennis is popular. Some families have set up a table in their basement or in a spare room, providing a fine source of entertainment for the whole family and for visitors.

Bowling is another sport that can be scaled down and modified for home play. Smaller pins, perhaps of plastic, can be used, and the bowling balls may be of similar material. Even tennis balls can be used if the pins are light enough.

Pool has long been a popular indoor game. Local pool halls, however, have generally been a poor environment. So some families have put a pool table in their home, and have spent happy hours playing together and with their friends. Other persons enjoy playing many different types of card games.

Providing home entertainment is big business, as shown by the more than 30-percent increase in sales of United States’ toy and game manufacturers in a recent year. Particularly popular are video games. Millions of people have purchased remote control sets that can be fastened to their TV’s. These make possible the playing of electronic tennis matches, baseball games, chess, and so forth.

Board Games

Games played on a board account for a large part of the sales of game manufacturers. Monopoly, a game of buying and selling real estate and railroads, has long been the most popular. More than 80 million sets have been sold world wide since 1934, when the game first went on sale in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. In the United States alone, some $40 billion in Monopoly money was printed in 1975, nearly twice the amount of real money printed by the U.S. Mint that year. Monopoly is played in some 46 countries, the dollars in various countries becoming francs, marks, pesetas, yen, and so forth.

Backgammon, probably the oldest of the board games, is resurging in popularity. In the ruins of the ancient Chaldean city of Ur, archaeologists unearthed a still-playable backgammon set. The ancient Egyptians and Romans also played it. Contributing to backgammon’s popularity is the fact that it is easy to learn, yet is very difficult to master. And, of course, chess is another board game that has long provided many persons much pleasure.

Very entertaining, too, are word games, which are excellent for increasing one’s vocabulary. A favorite is Scrabble, which grew out of the idea of crossword puzzles. Originated in the 1930’s, it did not really catch on until about 1953. Now millions of these board games are sold each year.

Inventing Your Own Games

The entertainment you enjoy, however, does not have to be games that others have invented. You can make up your own. Although not exactly a game, one middle-aged gentleman tells of some family-originated entertainment that brought him particular pleasure. “My four little nephews and nieces, about ages 10 to 15, advised us earlier that the following evening they were going to perform for us. They worked out a real program of song and dance routines, with the 10-year-old serving as master-of-ceremonies. They kept us thoroughly entertained for an hour or more.”

A married couple living in northern Germany decided to make a game of teaching their children about peoples of other countries. They would pretend to take trips to various places. As a highlight, they would have a meal typical of the pre-selected land. Then they would spend the evening discussing the country, looking at pictures of it, and telling their children something about its characteristics and customs.

One evening this family was scheduled to “fly by jet” to Japan. The children were shown how to sit on the floor, Japanese-style, and how to eat with chopsticks. Of course, anyone who has ever eaten with chopsticks, or at least tried to eat with chopsticks, knows that the first attempt is not easy. At one point little four-year-old Andrea pleaded: “Daddy, let’s fly back to Germany!” Though most families will overlook such possibilities for entertainment, don’t you see how interesting they could be?

In many countries it is popular to pantomime Bible stories, letting the guests guess who or what is meant. Noah at work building the ark, David defeating Goliath, Ruth working in Boaz’ field, and many other popular stories can be easily and briefly pantomimed. Whoever gives the correct answer can present the next dramatization, with no one doing it twice until all have had a turn.

Another possibility is to use recorded sounds from the kitchen, from one’s place of employment or from other places, and then play them for the group to identify. Or it may be that the game is to identify the source of the sound that a person is making from behind a curtain. Is it the tearing of paper, the opening of a bottle, the cracking of a nut, and so forth?

Group singing can also be real entertainment. And rather than being content with just knowing and singing the melody, why not branch out and learn the other parts—alto, tenor, bass—of a song? Learning to sing four-part harmony can be extremely entertaining and beneficial.

Self-made “Card Games”

Many have had fun playing the following games: First, cut from cardboard or heavy paper 20 or more playing cards. Then paste pictures on them in matching pairs, so that you have about 10, or, if the players are more experienced, preferably more matching pairs. After mixing the cards, lay them face down. Each player, in turn, is then allowed to pick up two. Should he pick up two with the same picture, he may keep them. Otherwise, the cards must be returned to their original position. When the player fails to pick up cards with matching pictures, it is the next player’s turn. The goal is to see who will be able to pick up the highest number of matched cards. So the challenge is to try to remember which picture you saw where.

Here is another possibility: List on cards the occupation of a certain Bible character, some of his outstanding qualities or characteristics, plus events in which he was involved. Some of the clues can be easy, others more difficult. Each player, in turn, reads one clue after another from his card until someone in the group guesses who the individual is.

Another game might be called “Let’s Find a Scripture.” Cards are passed out that each list a situation, such as the following: A workmate complains about the high cost of living; a mother has trouble controlling her unruly son; a school friend is considering trying out drugs. Each person reads the situation noted on his card and everyone tries to find an appropriate Bible text to handle it. A time limit can be imposed to keep the game from getting draggy, after which the various suggestions can be discussed.

A popular game played at many social gatherings can best be described by the title “Who Am I?” Names of Bible personalities are written on large cards, or pieces of paper, and pinned on the backs of persons who want to play. The person does not know whose name is pinned on his back. He must try to find out the name of the person pinned on his back by asking questions such as, “Did I live before the birth of Jesus?”; “Was I a king?”; “A faithful king?” and so forth. Only “yes,” or “no” and “I don’t know” answers are permitted.

A word of caution is in order. A host should make sure that his guests feel relaxed. Not all may wish to participate in games. They may prefer to observe; this may bring them greater enjoyment. So don’t insist on full participation. Also, select games that suit the persons present. The games shouldn’t be overly complex or difficult. And try to avoid letting a spirit of competition develop so that some feel embarrassed or depressed because they can’t do as well as others.—Gal. 5:26.

Word and Letter Games

You can play a simple word game by someone’s mentioning the name of a Bible character. The next person must respond with a Bible character whose name begins with the last letter of the previously mentioned name. For instance, if the first person says Adam, then the next could say Moses, the next, Saul, and on down the line. You may make it more challenging by requiring that the same name not be used twice. In a similar game, the players go through the alphabet, each person saying the name of a Bible character whose name starts with the succeeding letters of the alphabet, a-b-c, and so on.

If you are ready to pass out paper and pencils, you could play a game popular in Sweden called a word square. Each player draws four horizontal and four vertical lines inside a square space, thereby dividing the space into 25 boxes. Then each player, in turn, calls out a single letter of the alphabet, which every player enters into any one of the 25 boxes of his square. These cannot be moved to other boxes later. The object is to form as many words, both horizontally and vertically, as possible. Such word-forming games can do wonders for your spelling ability.

A game or two may be sufficient to liven up an evening and provide material for further conversations. Do not wear out your guests by playing too long or playing just one game too much! This can be just as boring and tiring as letting the evening drag by doing nothing.

There are indeed many forms of entertainment from which to choose. The right kind can refresh the mind and heart, bringing pleasure and removing boredom. So don’t ignore the need for entertainment. Yet, at the same time, don’t become a lover of pleasures rather than a lover of God. (2 Tim. 3:4) Keep entertainment in its proper place.