A Funny Thing Happened to Me on the Way to Today

Greetings friends, I have not posted anything for a while, and while I still dont have anything creative or substantial to post, I believe it is important to try to keep the creative juices flowing, so I'll just share some thoughts on a cold winter's night.

I just got home and was watching a quirky film on channel 13. I was annoyed with PBS for changing their programming. Saturday night until recently was a night when they would show movie classics, which was good for me because I don't have cable. But I'm enjoying the movie--an independent non-hollywood film, maybe even a student film.

Aren't surprises wonderful! I used not to like surprises but I now believe surprises are important. I have concluded that at some level of His Being God likes to watch the world unfold without being aware of how the script ends --evolution as entertainment. If there is a script. All my friends regardless of their ideologies or faith seem to believe there is a script--i dont think there is a script. So when we enjoy surprises we are being like God. I used to think God built chance into the world so that we can have free will, but philosophers like Daniel Dennett are saying determinism does not rule out freedom. So maybe chance exists for God's entertainment. Eternity can be a little boring at times and, see Einstein, God does play at dice.

Maybe its not a coincidence that April 1st is near the great religious festivals of Easter and Passover. April Fool's pranks as sacrament. To western Christians, especially Catholics that will sound very sacriligeous. To Orthodox Christians who know that "mysteria" extend beyond the 7 they learned about in Sunday School it will sound vaguely saciligeous. But I have long believed God is a comedian. Think back to some of the experiences that have brought you closer to God, that made you somehow feel his presence in your life and in the world, the experiences that validated or reinforced what you were taught as children. Yes, most were serious, perhaps during times of personal crisis. But some of them may hve had traces of humor. Maybe in the way we think some of the nasty people in our lives have been punished. Maybe its just us. Or maybe we tasted a bit of the Divine playfulness. Our sense of humor is one of the things that most makes us human, so it must reflect in some way something in God's Essence.

Think of the times when you played with your children or nephews or any children. Were these not some of the most beautiful and joyous moments of your life? Were you and they not at those moments in the Image and Likeness of God? Was there not an abundance of Love in that play?

Which brings me to a point I did not expect (surprise!) to visit in this posting, memories of my dad have suddenly started flooding my consciousness. So not just when we play but when our parents played with us were some of the best times of our lives. Those experinces sustained us and shaped us, especially those who had more difficult childhoods than the one's we baby boomers and post baby boomers experienced in an America blessed by God. Our Father who art in heaven, you can play with us too. Do not make us your plaything, but show us the way, in all seriousness, and in humor too.