Yet compelling.
Captivating.
Scarily out of our comfort zones.
Beautiful beyond compare.
It's like this: an opportunity presents itself and we are the participants, the responders.
We are either adventurers or side-liners.
Too often watching opportunities pass.
Wishing we were experiencing the moment, wishing we had chosen to love.
Knowing that we are on this earth for moments such as these.
The moments in which heaven collides with earth.
As a result of:
Someone seizing an opportunity and living out love, in whatever form it takes in that moment.
Some days I am brave, seizing opportunities when they are in front of me while other days I choose to watch moments pass from the sidelines.
Too hesitant to step into the moment.
Too captivated by the unknown.
Too fearful of awkwardness.
Fear, fear, fear.
But some days: love.
Sometimes, Jesus.
Which can sometimes mean doing hard things, doing big things. Sometimes Jesus looks like Pope Francis embracing a man covered in leprosy or like Katie Davis selling all of her possessions and moving to Uganda. Sometimes Jesus is a kind word spoken or a person acknowledging someone who the world overlooks. Sometimes Jesus is letting a person cry into your arms or sometimes Jesus is speaking truth loud and clear. Sometimes being Jesus is obvious while other times it is more subtle.
Being Jesus is even in the little ways, such as leaning into the moments of laughter and playfulness.
Some days, Jesus means joy. Silliness. A light heart. Suspending judgment for the sake of appreciating fairy tales. Entering the world in which we fight dragons, in which we are kings and queens, in which we all alike have valor, chivalry, bravery, and courage.
In which we are embracing imagination.
Experiencing a piece of what it means to have a child-like spirit.
Children see magic because they look for it, perhaps even because they create it.
The world is cruel, and we should not sugar-coat it. There is a difference, however, in naively living your way through life and embracing life with all of it's realities yet remaining soft at heart. A balance must be found. It's true that life is no fairy-tale, but we are believing lies if we buy into the concept that God intends for us to be made of stone. We must know of life's cruelties, but we mustn't let the world harden us inside.
Perhaps, in some sort of ironic way, embracing a child-like spirit helps us to combat the harsh ways of the world, for imagination spurs laughter, and laughter is the light that shines through the darkness.
Today at work, my co-workers and I allowed our imaginations to take us elsewhere. Pretending we weren't American and forgetting we were working in retail, we talked in English accents for the first few hours. It was ridiculous.
And it made our customers smile.
And yes, perhaps it wasn't prim and proper.
And yes, perhaps it didn't align with social protocol.
And yes, perhaps it meant being vulnerable and weird and goofy.
But when traveled, it was the path that made a six year old throw her head back in laughter, soul giggling uncontrollably and eyes twinkling bright.
When traveled, it was the road that made an elderly woman chuckle.
When traveled, it was the way in which a small bit of heaven was experienced as laughter chimed through the air and the sunshine of silliness chased away cynicism and serious attitudes.
It's moments such as this, in the ordinary experiences of every day life, that God's surprises await us.
In ordinary life experiences God invites us to engage whole-heartedly with imagination.
To thrive creatively.
It's strange how a concept so simple scares so many of us. Too often are we afraid to be silly. Too often do we refuse to be goofy, because it means being soft. It means putting ourselves out there. It means letting our guards down.
And yes, it's a little weird (but we're all a little weird).
Yes, it's a little bonkers (but we're all a little bonkers).
Freedom comes when we allow these parts of us, these silly, crazy, wild-child parts of us, to flourish and live.
To thrive creatively.
It's strange how a concept so simple scares so many of us. Too often are we afraid to be silly. Too often do we refuse to be goofy, because it means being soft. It means putting ourselves out there. It means letting our guards down.
And yes, it's a little weird (but we're all a little weird).
Yes, it's a little bonkers (but we're all a little bonkers).
Freedom comes when we allow these parts of us, these silly, crazy, wild-child parts of us, to flourish and live.
As we speak in accents
As we believe in as many as six impossible things before breakfast
As we encounter adventures
As we sail through oceans
As we dance with mythical creatures
As we run wild through fields of flowers
As we fall down rabbit holes
We find a treasure far better than Wonderland.
We find the kingdom of heaven.
World without end.
“Since it is so likely that children will meet cruel enemies, let them at least have heard of brave knights and heroic courage. Otherwise you are making their destiny not brighter but darker.”
-C.S. Lewis
