what if play is part of how we know God?

I’ve been talking lately about the relationship between play and creativity. I talk about creativity a lot. I love to paint and color and write. I lead creative retreats and share creative prompts. But even though it might seem like it, creativity isn’t really the center of what I do. Play is. More specifically, contemplative play. I think creativity is one expression of play, but play is much bigger than creativity.

And I think playfulness matters more to our life with God than we sometimes realize. Christians put a lot of emphasis on the intellectual side of faith. We study Scripture, read books, listen to sermons, and learn theology. All of those things are good, and I certainly don’t want to dismiss them. But sometimes I wonder if we have quietly decided that these are the serious ways of knowing God.

Play can seem frivolous by comparison, maybe even a little childish and silly. Except Jesus keeps pointing us toward children.

He tells his disciples that the kingdom of God belongs to people who receive it like a child. And I don’t think that means children have nothing to learn. It means there is something about the posture of a child that grown-ups desperately need.

Children wonder, imagine, and don’t think twice about receiving and needing. They delight in simple things. They ask questions without always needing immediate answers. They can become completely absorbed in something simply because it is interesting or beautiful or fun.

What if some of that belongs in our life with God, too?

Look at the world God made. It is not merely functional; it is extravagant! There are thousands of kinds of flowers and beetles and birds. There are ridiculous-looking animals and enormous mountains and tiny mushrooms. There are colors and textures and tastes and sounds that don't seem necessary for our survival at all. Creation gives us plenty of reason to believe that God values delight!

And Jesus himself doesn't seem interested only in filling people's minds with correct information. He tells stories, asks questions, notices flowers and birds, celebrates at weddings and provides meals. He welcomes children who the adults apparently think are interrupting something more important.

Maybe growing in faith isn't only about knowing more. Maybe sometimes it is about becoming more receptive, curious, playful, and delighted. More willing to wonder and receive the kingdom as a gift instead of something we can master.

That is part of what I mean by contemplative play.

Contemplation invites us to pay attention, to slow down, notice and receive what is already here. Play brings curiosity, imagination, freedom and delight to that attention. Sometimes contemplative play looks like painting or coloring. Sometimes it looks like wondering about a Bible story using imaginative prayer, without rushing toward the "right" answer. Sometimes it looks like walking outside, noticing something strange, making something just because you want to, laughing, experimenting, or sitting quietly enough to see what catches your attention.

None of this replaces Scripture or theology or learning, but I wonder if it helps us know God in another way. Because God is not an idea to understand. He is a person to know and love. And maybe our intellect is only one of the ways we were made to know him.

We were also given bodies and senses, imagination, curiosity, and laughter. The ability to make and explore and wonder and delight. Those aren't distractions from a serious spiritual life. I think they are part of it that we too often forget.

Maybe Jesus' invitation to become like children isn't an invitation to know less, maybe it's an invitation to receive and play more.

And that’s why I use creativity so often. Creativity gives us a way to practice this kind of play, to experiment, wonder, notice, imagine, and make something without needing to know exactly where we’re going. So I paint and color and write. I lead creative retreats and share creative prompts. Not because I think everyone needs to become more creative, but because making things gives us a way to play. And in that play, maybe we can become a little more like children: curious, receptive, delighted, and open to what God might want to give us.