Embracing a Playful God
A Reflection by Rita Peterson
Work hard, serve, do your duty, sacrifice. Know your mission, purpose, and influence. These are words and phrases I remember hearing a lot about from childhood through adulthood. Many of my parochial school teachers would quote Benjamin Franklin’s words, “Idle hands are the devil’s playthings.” Was I supposed to be serious and hardworking all the time to gain God’s approval? Was I going to be tempted to do something wrong whenever I stopped working and began daydreaming or playing? As a child, the church taught me to be obedient, orderly, and quiet. Even on the playground, we had “rules.” Was God really as judgmental, stern, and joyless as I may have thought? I watched as my own children had some fun activities at church, yet there was always a lesson to learn. A lesson about an “awesome” God: nothing was said about a playful God.
We are made in the image of God. In the Creation Story, we learn that God kept busy creating for six days. After each “day,” God declared the creation “good.” I think God smiled and clapped when He said that. How could He not? What had been created was a colorful, diverse, and beautiful world. God gave us dogs and cats, birds, koalas, wildflowers, and beautiful sunsets. God created sea pigs, blobfish, and dumbo octopuses! God also created the platypus, a mashup of a duck’s bill, an otter’s tail, and a beaver’s feet. Only a playful God could create such animals! On the sixth day, humanity was created, and on the seventh day, God rested. God knew that the man and woman would continue to play. That must have made Him very happy.
While we know very little about Jesus’s childhood, I have read that in the first century, children played. In fact, archaeologists have discovered whistles, rattles, clay dolls, and wooden toys. We do know that an older Jesus attended weddings, drank wine, and told interesting and often humorous parables. He also loved children and told His disciples, Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven (Matthew 18:2-3 NIV). This tells me the children belong to the Kingdom. Does this mean that the Kingdom of Heaven is a place of curiosity and fun? Jesus often told stories that confused the scholars of the day but made sense to children. Christ’s playfulness demonstrated His superiority and control, but it is also evidence of His love.
I believe our God is eternally playful and that the Spirit encourages us to feel joy, pleasure, and gratitude. I believe God wants us to make time for joy, creativity, and curiosity. That might mean setting aside old beliefs about God and laughing with God, our constant friend. Of course, I show reverence toward God when I bow to pray or enter a sacred sanctuary in a church. But I believe playfulness can be part of that awe and veneration. When we play, we are free from fear and anxiety. There is so much value in play, and when we forget that, we forget God within us and lose our connection to the Divine. This wonderful God gave us the capacity to jest, to dance, to laugh, and to sing, and God calls us to be playful collaborators, creators, and partners with Him. We were created to play with a carefree and childlike heart in the warm embrace of a loving God.
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