Skip to main content

Toward a Manifesto of Silliness

Recently, my thoughts have turned to silliness. It all began when my eight year old son and I sat together on the couch, he on my lap. We spent a while goofing, mostly laughing at nothing. Afterward, a question stuck in my mind: Why was that so good? It's not as though we hadn't been together lately, we had -- plenty. Thus, for several days on end, at odd moments here and there, I've been thinking about nonsense, tomfoolery, laughter -- in a word, silliness. In fact, I'm becoming quite serious about it.

Other questions have arisen: How might Jesus view silliness? What Scripture passages come to mind when I'm thinking this way? Is there such a thing as a theology of silliness?

I also asked my family about it. "What," I said one night at dinner, "makes silliness important?" I did realize as I asked the question that I assumed the importance of such a thing, but none of them skipped a beat. We came up with the following:

1. Silliness is a sign of joy

2. We are silly, therefore it is important

3. Silliness is just fun

4. Silliness helps bring balance

5. Silliness solidifies relationships

I assure you, these five reasons were developed in earnest, if not in complete seriousness, and we did this quite rapidly. Other topics we bring up around the table, much more "important" ones, may or may not take more thought -- but silliness, well, we had some things to say immediately. That's interesting all by itself. I'll have to reflect on that.

I'm posting this today as a sort of introduction. The plan is to meditate on silliness using the five reasons listed above. We believe that silliness is important in our house, and maybe, after some consideration, you will realize that you do, too.

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Silliness Solidifies Relationships

On February 8th, I posted an introduction of sorts called "Toward a Manifesto of Silliness." Every week since then I've written about silliness, mostly as a way to meditate on and answer the question: What makes silliness important? My family and I talked it over, and here are our answers: "Silliness is a Sign of Joy." "Silliness is Important Because We are Silly." "Silliness is Just Fun." "Silliness Helps Bring Balance." Thinking on and writing about those answers helped this last silly answer grow -- I had an idea at first, but those initial answers shaped how I thought/think about silliness. It was a suspicion that began the day my youngest son and I played our game of nothing. Remember? All this began with nothing. Try to imagine: First, we sat side by side, the whole room bright from the sun. Soon, he draped his arms around my neck, and because of the faces we'd been making, laughter took over. His brothers were close by, ...
1 comment
Read more

Silliness Helps Bring Balance

If you've been with us for the last few weeks, you're beginning to see what we feel about silliness. If you haven't been checking in on us, however, here's what you've missed: * We asked some initial questions about why silliness is important . * Firstly, we said, silliness is a sign of joy . * Secondly, we are obviously silly and obviously important. You are, too, if you were wondering . * Thirdly, silliness is just fun . Don't worry, we'll wait while you catch up on all that reading. ... Good, I'm glad you're back! We're just giving another answer: Fourthly, silliness is important because it helps bring balance. I hope you know we're being earnest, if not completely serious. That last sentence made me smile, and I needed it at the moment. You see, even though all this writing and posting amounts to little, there's a feeling that begins at the back of my mind when I think I'm doing something good, especially when I'm glad about m...
1 comment
Read more

Silliness Is Important Because We Are Silly

Where have we been so far? In my introductory post,  Toward a Manifesto of Silliness , I wrote that I asked my family: "What makes silliness important?" The first answer: Silliness Is a Sign of Joy . Today, we're meditating on our second answer: Silliness is important because we are silly. As I explained about the first answer, this one also found me at a loss. It was a probing kind of answer, and, as we'll see in later posts, it's where I'm headed with all this nonsense. But hang with me here for now. Isn't the circular nature of this answer fitting? Silliness is important because we are silly; we are silly because it's important. As an argument, this circular kind rests at the peak of hilarity -- it's silly. And yet, the very nature of what we're discussing here requires a deep presupposition that can't be explained anyway. So we're fine with circular if you are. "Look around you," my son seemed to say. "Aren't WE s...
Post a Comment
Read more