Wanted: Playground Saints

By the authority vested in me through having written books including the terms saint and playground in their titles, I hereby declare 2021 to be the year of the Playground Saint.

What is a playground saint?  A person who is actively striving to be the person God made them to be, while at the same time not taking themselves too seriously and having a little fun in life.

Playground Saints are like the scarecrow, tin man, and lion from the Wizard of Oz.  They use their brain, display heart, and demonstrate courage to the best of their God given abilities.

Most importantly, they have a soul that desperately desires to get back to heaven.  I guess Dorothy could represent the soul, “There’s no place like home!”

More specifically, Playground Saints use their minds to seek, find, and live by truth.  Like children, they are curious and constantly asking why.  They are not content to accept the word of others as gospel truth.  They want to gain full understanding of what is actually right and true.  They seek both knowledge and experience to gain the wisdom necessary to make well informed choices in life.  They use the proper blend of reason, logic, and emotion to make the best decisions in any given situation.

Playground Saints care about and for others, they have heart.  They are service oriented and do things that help improve the lives of others. They are role models for living by the greatest commandments (love God and neighbors) and golden rule (do to others whatever you would have them do to you).  They want to make it to heaven and bring as many others with them as they can.

Courage is the greatest attribute of a Playground Saint.  They dare to be themselves, their God given selves.  They are comfortable being who they naturally are, and doing what they are intended to do.  They do not worry about what others think of them.  They only care about what God thinks of them.  They strive to do good, to be good, and to get better every day.

And finally, and maybe most importantly, Playground Saints understand they have a soul to protect.  They realize there is an internal war going on every day for possession of their soul.  They fight the good fight with all their might.  They will not compromise their principles.  There is no going along to get along in the face of evil.  They know they will lose some battles, but they are determined to win the war.

The world is in desperate need of Playground Saints.  We seem to keep waiting for someone or something to arise from out of nowhere and save us from ourselves.  Unfortunately, no election or vaccine is going to do that.  Fortunately, Jesus already has.  He saved us long ago.  All we need to do is follow His teaching and example.  Simple, but not easy.

Ultimately it is up to each of us to save ourselves.  All it takes is a strong desire and a steadfast commitment.  But it is a difficult lifelong journey and we will need help and support along the way.  We were made for community.  We are each a piece in the puzzle of the perfect world.  We need to figure out where we fit and to help others do the same.

With all of this in mind, I’ve decided to kick it up a notch in 2021.  Since founding the Saint Builder Foundation in 2017 I’ve enjoyed researching, writing, speaking, and attempting to live the life of a striving saint.  I truly appreciate that many of you have supported and joined me in that journey.

But recently I have felt that I am not doing enough.  Actually I think I’m being told that I am not doing enough.  Every day I ask for direction from above.  Usually I feel like the answer is something like, just keep doing what you’re doing, but do it better.  Then at some point during each week I get an idea for an article which I research and write to the best of my ability.

I must admit that most of the time I don’t want to write about the topic that reveals itself.  The assignments are difficult and I know most of the time I will be annoying someone.  Sharing the truth around controversial topics is never what I would call fun, especially when so many are convinced they are already well versed in the truth.

Enough of my whining.  Here’s what I’d like to do going forward.  I’d like to facilitate the building of an online community of striving Playground Saints.  People who are serious about living a life worthy of heaven, helping others to do the same, and having a little fun along the way.

Over the last month or so I keep seeing one Bible verse over and over again.  It came up again today as one of the daily readings:

Therefore, stay awake, for you know neither the day nor the hour.  Matthew 25:13

I’m taking that as a sign that there is no time to waste.  It gives me a renewed sense of urgency.  While I’m not one of those end times prognosticators, this crazy year certainly gives me pause about the possibility.  And really, it’s always true that we don’t know when our time on this earth will come to an end.  So we should strive to live each day to its fullest.

Specifically, I’m thinking about starting a group where all those interested could virtually gather to support one another.  I would issue a weekly challenge though a video.  We would all then have the opportunity to share our thoughts about the challenge, including what we did and how it turned out.

I’m thinking we could also get together once a month to discuss some topic of interest.  In fact I’d like to recruit some of you to talk about things that I know you do as a best practice.  I am fortunate to have some very impressive friends that are far advanced past me in their saint striving journeys. 

Although I wish there were alternative technologies available, most likely I would use a private Facebook group and Zoom meetings as ways for us to easily communicate with each other.  I might also post videos and supporting materials on a website.

My thought is to start this on a small scale and build it over time.  In addition to individuals, I could envision married couples participating.  Someone once told me that our main job in marriage is to get our spouse to heaven.  Melanie took on a heavy burden there, my job is easy.  It would be cool if parents and kids participated eventually as well.  Maybe even grandparents and grandkids, who knows where this could lead.

Anyway, that’s what I’m thinking today.  I’m very interested in hearing your thoughts.  Are you interested?  Do you have others ideas for how to make something like this work?  Do you think I’ve lost my mind?  Please let me know when you have a chance.

In the meantime, let’s all work hard to do good, be good, get better every day, and remember to have a little fun along the way.  More to come next week…

Be a Playground Saint!  Scott