“Bless the LORD, O you his angels, you mighty ones who do his bidding, obedient to his spoken word.
Bless the LORD, all his hosts, his ministers that do his will.
Bless the LORD, all his works, in all places of his dominion.
Bless the LORD, O my soul.”
Psalm 103:20-22 

It is a game we play that delights this old Papa more than she will ever know: Our granddaughter, Cailin, comes up to me as innocently and politely as she can possibly manage and asks me if she can give me a “ . . . little hug and kiss.” Well, of course I promptly pick her up and say, “I’d love that!” and in the course of being picked up, Cailin wraps her arms around my neck and squeezes as hard as she can while planting the biggest, juiciest kiss she can on my cheek. Being the game that it is, it is not unusual for Cailin to break out in laughter mid-hug and mid-kiss, knowing that she has ‘fooled’ Papa and, instead of giving him a “ . . . little hug and kiss”, gave him a great BIG one with Papa expressing an inordinate amount of ‘surprise’ and ‘delight’. This game then moves on to Papa’s ‘Tickle Hand’ paying a visit on the ‘offending’ grandchild, at which time Cailin looks ‘appropriately contrite’ and asks to ‘do it right’ . . . . and the whole game starts all over again. What absolute and wondrous fun! And, what a joy it is to be Papa to such a loving young lady! (I am told that she comes by that fun-loving nature honestly . . . from her Nana, of course!)

All of this got me to thinking . . . .

At what point is it that we move away from such child-like relationships? From the laughter and play? From the games and giggling? At what point is it that we become ‘too old’ to give great big hugs and kisses to our grandparents or parents? When is it that the huge smiles and raucous moments of ‘fooling around’ give way to an occasional grin of acknowledgement and the steadfast regularity of the mundane? When is it that we begin to disconnect everyday life from having fun . . .  and raising a family from surprising each other with outbursts of affection? And, if we allow this to happen in our human relationships, then how much more do we do this to God?

At what point is it that we move away from the child-like love of God? From the laughter and play? From the games and giggling? At what point is it that we become ‘too old’ to give great big hugs and kisses to God, celebrating God’s nearness in our life? When is it that the huge smiles and raucous moments of ‘fooling around’ in the wonders of God’s love give way to an occasional grin of acknowledgement and the steadfast regularity of the mundane in who we are together? When is it that we begin to disconnect everyday faith in God from having fun in service and celebrating the dance of life with the other? When is it that we laid down our opportunities to wrap our arms around God’s neck and give God great BIG juicy kisses of surprising affection?

Maybe all of that talk from our parents about ‘growing up’ and ‘being respectful to our elders’ has been translated by the biblically repressed as ‘appropriate humility before God’, I’m not sure, but of this I am sure: The Psalms are full of joy for a reason; the leper Jesus cleansed came back and offered thanksgiving for a reason; the Samaritan woman at the well went and told everyone about Jesus for a reason; the prophetic texts speak of celebration on the journey for a reason; Noah paused to rejoice and give thanks for a reason; the disciples gathered the church in the Spirit and celebrated the sacrament of Holy Communion regularly for a reason; Moses and the tribes of Israel stopped on the wilderness side of the Red Sea and sang a great song of deliverance for a reason . . . . . and that reason is inherent to who we are created to be by the One who created us. We are created for joy and laughter. We are created for dancing and praising. We are created for hugging and kissing. We are created to be with each other the same way we are created to be with God: in sacred, holy ecstasy . . . allowing the delight of our hearts in relationship with each other to spill over to the elation and bliss of our souls in relationship with God. (Or is that visa versa? Or are they equally dependent, equally required of each other? Hmmmmmm. I’ll ponder that some more.) 

Bottom line: Theologically, we are created to be affectionate children of a loving, compassionate God. We are created to reach out and feed on God’s creative wonder in the same way a baby reaches out to a mother’s breast and hungrily suckles life. We are created to reach out to touch the face of God, trusting that God’s face will move nearer as we reach farther out, in the same way that a grandchild reaches out to a grandfather’s face and traces the facial wrinkles in love, tenderly encircling his neck in arms of happiness. We are created to giggle, to laugh, to play, to be enthralled by the beauty of a butterfly, to be held spellbound by the twinkling of a lightning bug, to pause in wonder at the movement of a caterpillar, to splash in water puddles, to make mud pies and offer them to grandparents for lunch, to build sand castles and then to wash them away with buckets of water, to hold hands, to swing high, to run and play tag, to hug in love and kiss with joy, and, oh so much more. Those are the lessons of Jesus.

Yet, too often, we are taught by the world that life is serious, especially if we are to work hard that we might not be like ‘those others’ who are always in want. Too often, we are taught by the world that faith is hard, especially if we are really trying not to be ‘like those other sinners’ who live faith and life so openly and frivolously. Too often, we are taught by the world that you cannot really be responsible in your own life if you are not responsible about making everyone else around you responsible for their own lives. To often, we are taught not to giggle, not to laugh, not to share, not to care, not to pause, not to splash, not to swing, not to play, not to hug, and, oh so much more, for those are the lessons by those who want to ‘succeed’, not just ‘get by.’ 

Thank you, Cailin, for surprisingly long and hard hugs and BIG juicy kisses, for you are reminding me of the God who is creating us for love. And thank you, God, for little granddaughter affections that transform the world and make us all a lot more like You.