So, God, You Think You’re Pretty Funny?

I’m not exactly sure what to write. I was out walking last week and said as much to God.
“You want me to write,” I said. “Ok, so, what do I write?”
The response?
“You will know when it’s time.”
That is so God! I think that God enjoys putting me into positions like that. God is sitting in
the divine recliner laughing. I, too, had to laugh.
So, here I am. Sitting at this machine poking at lettered keys trying to make some sort of sense.
Not feeling inspired right now.
I think that is also part of God’s joke on me. You see, I keep putting off writing anything. I feel totally inadequate to the task. Who do I think that I am? I don’t know anything of any real use to anyone.
Hell! I spent my working life if commercial printing! Commercial printing is simply a way to keep landfills in business. Nothing to see there.
But, God got me to promise to sit down and write. Sneaky, that God. Always good for a joke.

I think that we all tend to take God too seriously.
No, seriously, I do!
I say, that if God is God, the Creator, then God must have invented humor. As they say, just look at a platypus! If that doesn’t prove God’s sense of humor, I don’t know what will.
I don’t see God as a Big Bully or a Cosmic Killjoy. I know, I know…someone’s gonna say something about “Have some respect! That’s God you’re talking about!”
Yeah, whatever. Prove me wrong! I dare ya! I double-dog dare ya!
You can’t do it, can you?
No, because if God is all and in all, then God must be in humor. Period.
To further prove my point, I am in my office with a one year old German Shepherd mix who demands all of my attention. I gave her a chewy to keep her busy. Now, she’s walking around my office, whining and looking for a place to bury it. She will gladly chew the walls and the woodwork. She takes special delight in chewing on my shoes. But, a chewy that has only one purpose in life, to be chewed on by a dog? No. Let’s bury it in the cushions of the furniture. Or, like just now, next to some dumb bells.
At least she’s happy now.
See? More of God’s humor. Give the guy a task, then do everything possible to make it difficult.
Ha! Ha! Ha!

This is more like the God that I’ve come to know in the last several years. This God is large and
expansive. This God loves the World so much that nothing is to much to give. Nothing is so low and profane that God will not engage. I think that there is always some kind of dirt and grime under the Divine Fingernails. This God laughs with us, (And, sometimes at us!). God walks with us when all is good. And, God cries with us when things aren’t.

I don’t know if I’m making any kind of sense.
Then again, God didn’t say anything about making sense.
“Write,” God said.
So, here I am trying to oblige.

My hope, I guess, is that anyone who decides to take the time to read this far will realize that I am not someone who takes himself too seriously.
I do take God seriously, though. Seriously enough to do what I can to break down the walls and barriers that the Church has erected over the centuries in order to keep “those people” out.
And, to attempt to keep God’s so-called purity from defiling. If you hadn’t noticed, God really doesn’t need our help with that. God doesn’t need us to have state-sponsored prayer or any other kind of special treatment. God’s perfectly capable of protecting God’s own identity and character.
Nor does God need any one nation or culture to be God’s chosen. Nope. Not. At. All.
God has already chosen from every tribe, people, and nation as God’s own.
Oh, BTW, those who are chosen?
EVERYBODY!!!
That’s part of what’s Good about the Good News!!!
God loves and chooses everyone to be the Chosen.
So, let’s live like it and stop worrying about what we can or can’t do to please God.
That’s already settled. We can, however, show God our appreciation and gratitude by being
Mindful that God is near. That God loves us all unconditionally. That we are cherished.
That, too, is part of the Good News.