Mechthild of Magdeburg wrote:"I, God am your playmate. I will lead the child in you in wonderful ways for I have chosen you!"
Sue Monk Kidd takes that image of God as a playmate and spins it out, offering her 85 year old Father-in-Law as the image of a living deity who is not above play ... she recalled a day when the neighbourhood kids came to her door asking if Gramps could come out and play ... her suprise only deepened when her Father in Law pulled on a ball cap, grabbed a glove and headed out the door to play ...
Somewhere I read that the Rabbis have called the "Wow!" of a child the holiest moment in ALL creation. They say that in that moment creation is being renewed and rediscovered. A child learning something that causes her to say - "Wow!!" is having their entire universe expand and sharing in the vastness of creation ...
It's hard not to imagine a playful God ... maybe we would do well to step back and see God, not as some austere, serious bearded figure on a throne in flowing robes, but as a ball cap wearing 85 year old man playing in ball with the neighbourhood kids ...
... wouldn't hurt to try.
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