God and Silliness

Yesterday afternoon DH and I went to see Evan Almighty, despite the negative reviews of the critics. Usually I am sick of a movie before it comes out, weary of hearing about it on the radio, seeing the same funny moments in the same previews over and over and over. But this one made me laugh every single time, so I figured it was worth a shot. Besides, the critics didn't have many good things to say about movies such as Nacho Libre and Mystery Men, which are two of my all-time favorite funny movies ever. So what do they know?

I was right. I enjoyed the movie quite a bit. The parts I enjoyed the most seemed to center around Morgan Freeman's portrayal of God. I think he was spot-on in some cases, and I was reminded of a few things I'd forgotten about God:

• Whatever he does is because he loves me. Even if it breaks my heart in the short run, in the long run it will bring me immeasurable joy.
  
• God has a sense of humor. And while I'm fond of saying (a la Mode) that it's a sick sense of humor, for the most part it's just a funny sense of humor.
  
• God likes us. I mean he really likes us. He doesn't just tolerate us, waiting for us to screw up so he can show us how merciful he is by forgiving us. He doesn't just have an obligatory love for us, because he made us. He likes us.
  
• God enjoys us. This goes beyond liking us. He likes to be silly with us and to laugh at us. Not in a mean poking-fun-at-us way, but in the way you might laugh at a kid who's being goofy, and knows he's being goofy. The laugher of enjoyment, not ridicule or mockery. Every good parent enjoys the endearing things his child does.
  
• God does not necessarily cause things to "happen to" us. He gives us opportunities. Things happen, and we have an opportunity to respond.
  

My favorite parts of the movie were the conversation God has with Evan's wife (named Joan, of course) in the restaurant, and the last conversation God has with Evan at the end of the movie. They both did my heart good. And even though I know that it wasn't really God in the movie, just an actor portraying a scripted version of God, it did serve to remind me who God really is. And I needed that.