Abstract
The congruence of faith and action is of vital importance to the health of the Church and to the growth and development of its people in all aspects of ordinary life. Eugene Peterson notes that the very essence of the Christian is a lifelong attendance to congruence—‘congruence between ends and means, congruence between what we do and the way we do it, congruence between what is written in Scripture’ and our actions, ‘congruence of the Word made flesh in Jesus with what is lived in our flesh’ (As Kingfishers Catch Fire, Waterbrook, 2017, p. xviii). Not only does a lived-out faith address accusations of Christian hypocrisy, but congruence encourages Christ followers to embrace a practice of spiritual rest that can benefit the individual, their relationships, and the common good.
In The Fullness of Free Time, Conor M. Kelly begins with the base assumption that free time is good and productive and important to life. Perhaps for many, the idea of free time might elicit constructs of self-focused pursuits for the end goal of personal enjoyment. Kelly, however, highlights that free time can and should be much more. Kelly challenges the Western US lens of self-focus, consumerism, and the ideal of rugged individualism. Kelly suggests that free time, encompassing both leisure and recreation, should instead be evaluated with the counter-cultural approach of solidarity. Kelly contends that the intentional and ethical pursuit of leisure should bring an individual closer to God, self, and others, which provides a foretaste of heaven (p. 21).
The Fullness of Free Time is broken into three major segments. In the first part, Kelly leads readers into a philosophical exploration of the moral ethics of free time, distinguishing between leisure and recreation, and utilizing an ethical framework of solidarity based on Catholic Social Teaching. The second section applies solidarity to the principle and the virtue of leisure. The final section focuses on the practical outworking of solidarity in everyday recreational areas such as television, digital media use, spectator sports, and travel.
In chapter 1, the author follows an ethical argument for the benefits of free time and, particularly, the pursuit of leisure over recreation. Kelly defines leisure ‘as those free time pursuits that generate the experience of flow’ (p. 12). Drawing on the works of Josef Pieper and Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, for Kelly, leisure has intrinsic value, and its flow is fully absorbing, resulting in an expansion of self. In flow there is a balance of skill and challenge, not providing too much challenge or ease, but just enough challenge that someone can stay interested and focused. An example of flow can be seen in the workplace when an individual has just enough challenge to be engaged in their work, and not too much ease that they might become easily bored.
The second chapter provides much of the theological and ethical underpinnings of Kelly's work. I appreciate the Catholic Social Teaching of solidarity and believe this connection to the pursuit of free time unveils thought-provoking and theologically sound questions of how to pursue leisure and recreation. The solidarity framework suggests that instead of a private pursuit of recreation and leisure for one's own good, the moral life must include a recognition of ordinary life that acknowledges and takes into account the common good. Kelly further suggests that in solidarity, social structures should be changed to provide all people, especially the poor, access to these areas of recreation and leisure.
Unfortunately, in chapter 2 Kelly's aim of congruence between theology and action remains thin. The underlying goal of this book is to provide a ‘closer connection between faith and ordinary life’ specifically to provide a stronger accord of Catholic faith with praxis (p. xxi). This was a key area of potential for the author. He sheds light on solidarity as a key theological ideal and further explains the possibilities of applied solidarity in later chapters, yet Kelly does not provide an initial depth of analysis of solidarity through historic, theological and scriptural passages that could have better supported his premise.
Kelly's explanation of free time could have been expounded upon with greater detail from Scripture, but this is often done in passing. Whether a reference to the life of Christ or to Sabbath, there was potential for much further exploration. For example, in support of solidarity, Kelly notes that human beings are made in the image of God and are therefore intended for relationship. Yet he fails to extend this theological point to explain the interconnection and relationship of the Trinity. The Trinity—Father, Son and Holy Spirit—showcase the connectedness of God and God's desire for all people to be in community with one another. Kelly also had the potential to include key passages in support of spiritual rest and leisure on the Sabbath. In the Judeo-Christian tradition, Sabbath is a central tenant to the practice of the Christian faith, outlining a dependence on God and rest from one's pursuit of work. Sabbath principles outline elements of social justice, restitution and care for the poor as shown in the return of lands following the year of Jubilee (Lev. 25:1-13; Num. 36:4). There are rich scriptural passages that had the potential to strengthen Kelly's argument, but he unfortunately did not include these or chose to rush by these texts.
Another area that could have added value to the theological framework extended in this book's exploration of leisure are the spiritual disciplines: elements including Sabbath, prayer, celebration, study of Scripture, meditation, solitude, fasting, fellowship, and giving. This was a missed opportunity. A deeper study of Scripture and the spiritual disciplines could have better supported Kelly's intent in writing this book.
Chapter 3 and 4 consider the principle and virtue of leisure as it interacts with solidarity. The principle of leisure, as a high ideal, supports the priority of leisure over recreation and the potential flourishing of relationship with God, self, and others (p. 79). One such suggestion is that Examen is used as a key activity for meaningful leisure and pursuit of God. The Examen is a helpful tool used, primarily, by the Jesuits for centuries. Along with the Examen suggested by Kelly, individuals might also engage in imaginative prayer, retreats and the spiritual disciplines. The virtue of leisure suggests that individuals incorporate solidarity and care of others, both ‘temporal and financial’, so that all people can flourish and have access to free time and leisure (p. 103). The author suggests individuals do this by providing people with ‘living wages, guaranteed vacation time, and guaranteed parental leave’ (p. 103). This is clearly a lofty goal that governments, workplaces, and those in power oversee. It could take many years and much planning to make this a reality, but Kelly does note that individuals should still seek this good.
The final section spans chapters 5–8, and outlines the interplay of solidarity with television watching, digital media use, spectator sports, and travel. In a world transfixed by countless hours of ‘screen-time’, people are not made more whole, but often can find themselves apathetic, isolated, and depressed. Kelly finds the true culprit is when people are drawn away from ‘communal engagement and relational connections’ (p. 128). For Kelly, ‘the solution … is to spend less time with these passive media’ and help make other recreational pursuits more readily available and affordable for others (p. 128). Kelly notes that digital media has more potential for relationships and can be a healthy way to recreate ‘if people are honored’ and ‘genuine empathy’ is given (p. 153). In similar ways, Kelly draws parallels of strengthening relationships, and having compassion in the realms of sports and also travel. Individuals are asked to consider how and what sports they watch. And in terms of travel, they are asked to reflect on whether their travel offers opportunity to build relationships with fellow travelers and hosts, while they consider the impact their travel plays in the environment and finances of the local economy.
The Fullness of Free Time offers readers an ethical foundation for free time and practical wisdom and advice for how individuals can pursue leisure and recreational activities with relationships and social structures in mind. Kelly does not promise answers for every situation, but humbly suggests that with complexity, ‘one must leave space for each moral agent's personal discernment in conscience’ (p. 176). The social justice outlook of solidarity is especially pertinent in today's society as it seeks to address possible harm and challenge inequalities. Flexible in his approach and hopeful, the model Kelly suggests offers individuals room to adapt the framework to fit their own needs and personality, and acknowledges that this is a learning endeavor.
Overall, The Fullness of Free Time will provide a valuable resource for moral philosophers, graduate students, or those looking to delve deeper into the ethical underpinnings of how they spend ordinary time. As the author suggests, ‘discernment in small matters can help prepare individuals to make bigger decisions later’ (p. 216) and help create ‘a more morally mature community’ (p. 217). Such an outlook can be relevant to those pursuing moral discernment and provide a model that is easily applicable to other areas in ordinary life.