That's Silly

            There’s a preschool in the same building as my church office.  I love to watch and listen to the kids at recess.  Preschool kids have such a joy of living.  They don’t care whether they look silly or sound silly.  They’re just having fun, taking pleasure out of being alive.

            I go to high school volleyball games.  One of my favorite parts is watching the high school boys in the stands.  They dress in silly costumes, they come up with silly cheers.  They take so much joy in being there.  They don’t care whether they look silly or sound silly.  They’re just having fun, taking pleasure out of being alive.

            Somehow, when we become adults, it seems like we lose some of that.  We lose our ability to be silly.  We start to become all somber and serious and responsible.

            Obviously, as adults, we do have responsibilities that kids don’t have.  We have jobs, we have debts, we have kids of our own to raise.  We have to do certain things at certain times in certain places, and there can be serious consequences if we don’t.  There is clearly a need for responsible adults in this world.  Besides, no one wants to see a fifty-year-old acting like a fifteen-year-old.

            Still, I think sometimes we become so somber and serious and responsible that we lose our sense of joy.  We get afraid to do things that we’d really enjoy, because we start worrying about whether we’ll look silly or sound silly.  We stop having fun.  We stop taking pleasure out of being alive.

            That’s too bad.  Being alive is a gift from God.  It’s a gift God wants us to enjoy.  Yes, of course, we have to be serious and responsible sometimes.  But it’s important that we not become so serious and so responsible that we forget to enjoy the incredible gift of life God has given us.

            A human life is short.  When you get to my age (fifty-three), or even several years before that, you realize that the odds are you’ve already lived over half of it.  It’s too short for us not to enjoy the incredible gift of live God has given us every time we can.

            So, if you can, have some fun today.  In fact, find some joy in living.  Don’t worry about whether you look silly or sound silly.  Just have fun.  Take pleasure out of being alive today.