On Whimsy, the Quirks of Creation, and Why I Think Knowing God Through a Sunrise Is Pretty Freaking Wonderful
Whimsy. Everyone is talking about it and how it will heal burnout, make you more interesting, even promote the sense that time will seem to slow down. I had the corner on whimsy before it was cool. I was walking around any ho-hum place pretending I was on a nature documentary or a gardening show. I was picturing myself frolicking through a meadow with the man I love. I was looking for clothing with any sign of one of the symbols I’ve decided suits my life message: sunshine, sunflower or now butterfly. That’s just in the last few years. I’m not even going to go into what I was like as a child and teen. I was full of even more whimsy–much to my older brother’s continual chagrin. That’s the rub, isn’t it? Many of us were much more ourselves when we were young. Don’t take my word for it–endless stories and analyses of various kinds have been written on the topic.
God is whimsical.
I see it here and there in our world, in the quirks of creation, of course. It makes me think of the Scripture passage in Romans that says we will know Him through His creation. That is pretty freaking whimsical. The message of hope and salvation can be known through the sunrise. That is the God that I worship. He is the God of the profound and the intimate, for He created all of it. From the depths of the earth to the heavens, we can know God. In the petals of a flower. In the rain droplets falling onto a lake. In my kitty as she purrs curled up on my lap. In the Ebb and Flo of the sea–shimmering gowns twirling and melting into one another.
I have been fighting to keep the imagination and playfulness alive in my life. There is a great tension right now in our world between having the needs met for our bodies, and the needs met for our soul. They seem to be in competition with one another, don’t they? Whether it is the people around us being trapped in their daily grind, or our own soul’s cry for more, the demands threaten to pull us under. And yet, the glittering gowns of the sea grab our attention once in a while and draw us back to whimsy. Whimsy may indeed help us bridge the gap between our body and soul.
I hope I can grow in letting go of pride and stress and people pleasing and just embrace this quality in myself more and more. A good friend of mine once said I was her most whimsical friend. That comment meant the world to me. For if God has whimsy, maybe that means I’m close to God’s heart a little bit. Perhaps it means I am enchanted with God’s heart as seen in the playful and fanciful qualities of His creation. Perhaps whimsy, as defined as playful, fanciful and enchanting, can be sacred. I don’t know how doctrinally sound this is, but it gave me chills and made me want to be still and know that God is God as I observe His wonders.