Need a break? Try prayer

It has been argued that NASCAR is America's fastest-growing sport. Some of the best automobile designers and mechanics in the world labor to fashion and maintain cars that will go as fast as possible without extinguishing their drivers. Given the incredible speeds and the proximity to competitors, the fact that more drivers aren't killed or maimed is a mild surprise.

The relative safety of NASCAR events is a testament to the auto racing industry. Even some casually interested fans, like myself, can't help but understand the attraction -- specially adulterated automobiles whipsawing around an oval, the ear-thumping noise of the engines, the pleasantly noxious smell of the track. My maternal grandmother once lived in a house next door to a speedway, where minor-league racing occurred Friday evenings. I can still recall the roar of the engines and the sound of the P.A. announcer.

This morning, weather permitting, Cape Girardeau will experience the closest thing it sees all year to NASCAR: the All-American Soap Box Derby. On a gently inclined stretch of Sprigg Street, 30 boys and girls will take part. It's a competition; calling it a race may be a bit of a stretch. A good high school sprinter could run faster than any of the derby cars descending the makeshift track.

In the weeks leading up to today, each driver must have gathered around him or her a pit crew; under supervision, each team must disassemble its derby car and then reassemble it to specifications. By the time each driver slips into the cab of his or her car this morning, the vehicle has become familiar. The driver and pit crew have taken off the body housing and put it back utilizing a 7/16-inch wrench. They've removed and reset the steering assembly and friction brake. They've removed and reattached the wheels. Each team has a feeling of accomplishment even before the first heat. When it comes to recreation, it's as clean an event as any you can imagine. It's small town. It's a link to generations past.

With the running of the eighth annual Derby today, it got me to thinking about the recreation in Jesus' day. (Pastors have the luxury of time to wonder about such things.) Would a first-century Jewish peasant have the time or the inclination to have fun? The Gospels certainly do not portray Jesus as taking breaks to let off steam; it's hard to imagine, however, keeping 12 disciples together for such an extended period of time without some relaxing activity.

The New Testament does reveal a Jesus who understood the value of something done well. This comes to us not so much from the narratives of his life but from inference. As the son of a carpenter, it's been suggested Jesus may have found work building and/or repairing boats on the Sea of Galilee; he also might have made plows or yokes for farmers. Because Nazareth was such a small village, it is possible that he and his father may have traveled to nearby Sepphoris to drum up business or perhaps sell finished work to interested buyers. Whatever the historicity of it, Jesus clearly knew a hardscrabble existence. Survival, not leisure time, necessarily would have been top of mind.

Hard work and no play make for a dull boy. Jesus must have found an outlet. Not play, it seems, but prayer. Prayer was the energy source; it was his fuel for living. It's not NASCAR, but Jesus was re-created just the same. It gave him focus and energy; it prepared him for the great work he accomplished. Looking for an outlet? Jesus hit his knees -- how about you?

Jeff Long is pastor of Centenary United Methodist Church in Cape Girardeau. Married with two daughters, he is of Scots and Swedish descent, loves movies, and is a lifelong fan of the Pittsburgh Steelers.