The Wardman Wire

GK Chesterton said a lot of profound things, here is one of them:

“Because children have abounding vitality, because they are in spirit fierce and free, therefore they want things repeated and unchanged.

They always say, “Do it again”; and the grown-up person does it again until he is nearly dead. For grown-up people are not strong enough to exult in monotony.

But perhaps God is strong enough… It is possible that God says every morning, “Do it again,” to the sun; and every evening, “Do it again,” to the moon.

It may not be automatic necessity that makes all daisies alike: it may be that God makes every daisy separately, but has never got tired of making them.

It may be that He has the eternal appetite of infancy; for we have sinned and grown old, and our Father is younger than we.”

Winehouse vs Dolls House

Watch children at play for any length of time. Having fun comes naturally to them. How do we lose that ability? How come that so many adults need to dose up on alcohol, drugs or adrenaline before we even feel ready to enjoy ourselves?

Okay, children are free from a lot of the worries the rest of us have: they don’t have a mortgage to pay, a bullying boss, a struggling marriage, or a hairline receding at the same speed that our waistline is expanding. But watching the kids at the school gate on ‘Book Day’ this week, all dressed as pirates, princesses and superheroes, it was hard not to smile and sense the joy and thrill they felt.

A wrong attitude to fun?

Author John Ortberg argues in his book “The Life You’ve Always Wanted: Spiritual Disciplines for Ordinary People” that for a long time Christians have had the wrong attitude to fun. Because the happier we are, the easier we find it to do what’s right, rather than be tempted to do something wrong. If you’re content with you’re lot, you won’t steal. If you’re enjoying life, an affair or a tax fiddle seems like a daft option.

However, for centuries the church has had a downer on fun. Being a Christian has been made a serious business, all about sin, and making sure you didn’t upset a stern God who was looking for the first chance to throw you into eternal fire. Meanwhile all sorts of normal pleasures - drink, dance, sport, sex - God’s inventions, have been ruled out by various Christian traditions, or seen as somehow tainted.

Is God Happy?

But we’ve slowly realised that Jesus first miracle - the production of the original wine lake at a wedding party - might actually say something about the nature of God. Think about how moving a glorious sunrise or sunset can be. God sees every single one, witnesses the first steps of every child, watches every exploding star. Take a look at the pictures on the Hubble Space Telescope site. God has been waiting 15 billion years to show you those - some holiday snaps. He has so much joy inside him that he would explode if He were a lesser being.

My church is currently running a marriage preparation course, and one issue this week was balancing quality time together with quality time apart. A relationship which allows no individual space, no time to do the things we really love, or which refresh us, is smothering.

We all need to do the things which give us joy, because it gives oxygen to the soul, and our loved ones, friends and colleagues all benefit.

Staying Young

And sometimes we just miss the daily chance of joy because we’re moving too fast. We can be in too much of a hurry to spare time to have a decent conversation with a friend, or take a minute to watch a spider’s web coated in dew.

It’s the ability to stop long enough to take joy in little things which stops us getting old and tired.

Wrapping-Up

Now unplug the laptop and go and find something which makes you smile.