“Do you have space in your life for being silly?”
That’s the question that my friend Chris asked me today. It wasn’t intended to be a silly question, he was very serious. Later Dwayne added in the observation that there’s something about “becoming” and adult that makes us want to leave our silly ways behind. Katie becomes Kate. Joey becomes Joe. Billy goes by Bill. Why? Because they’re all grown up, we’re adults now and have to act like it!
There are some who live their lives without an ounce of seriousness and live into their silly nature a little too much. But for most of us we are so incredibly busy, we are so consumed with our work, with responsibility, with being mature, with being an adult that we miss out on the joy and freedom of silliness. Being silly in and of itself can be understood as an act of dignity can’t it? Allowing others to live into their silliness is to allow them to let go, to experience a bit of freedom, and to…well…have a little fun. Some might argue that being silly is actually an undignified way to act, but I would suggest that if we truly respect ourselves and others we will be willing to honor that part of us that demands light heartedness and freedom. Some of us will live into our silliness easier than others and we’ll all define what it looks like differently. But maybe its worth it to take Jesus’ advice and not worry about tomorrow, maybe its worth it to trust that the existence of giraffes proves that silliness is built into our worlds identity. We can’t escape it. All we can do is fight against it or give in. Our culture tells us to fight against it because you’re all grown up: Jim’s don’t act silly! Jimmy’s all grown up and has got to be responsible…OR…Jim could slow down his hectic pace in life just enough to find space to laugh, chill, do something goofy, stop taking himself so seriously, stop stressing about every little thing in life, and go draw with some sidewalk chalk infront of his house. I’d suggest drawing a giraffe ’cause you know those things are just plain ol’ goofy lookin’.
Chris, a fairly polished debate speaker and atheist (at the time), stepped infront of the microphone that Sunday morning to tell the seventy person church that I worked at that he thought what we were doing was a waste of time. He shared with this fairly new church that if we really believed Jesus was who he said he was and if we studied what Jesus actually did it would seem that Jesus would be happier if we’d help people than sit around and sing songs about him.
Woke up this morning, brought the chickens all the scraps from yesterday, watered the garden, picked a couple of cucumbers, a pattypan squash, and a crookneck squash, our friend dropped off her daughter who will walk to school with us while her mom is cast for Portlandia…and now its time to fix some breakfast.
I was the son of a preacher man. I was homeschooled. Enough said.
I’m not one to focus on doom and gloom…in fact, I tend to wear a pretty dark pair of rose-colored glasses in life but if I were to be honest for a moment I’d have to admit that everything in this world is dying. Everything is winding down. You, me, my garden, everything we build (roads, buildings, machines), the whole earth itself is digressing toward death isn’t it? There are those beautiful glimpses of life and beauty that we cling to, the moments that ’cause us to remember that despite the death of everything there is still something bigger, better, and worth celebrating happening. You can probably put those beautiful things into two categories (using the word ‘categories’ kind of cheapens it now doesn’t it?!): the pursuit of extending life despite death and the pursuit of things that transcend the trap of death.