my window to heaven

I switched offices recently.
I wanted a better view.
In my old office as i sat at my desk and looked out the window, I had a sweeping view of the wall of the education wing of church. Now, it's a nice wall. But its a wall.

In my new office, I look out the window and see trees, the park, sky, and best of all: the grassy area where the pre-school kids play in the morning.

The other day, I'm sitting here watching the kids play and I notice this one little boy, maybe 3 years old, playing chase with his teacher. The teacher is barely jogging and the little boy is plodding along after her as fast as he can. No chance of catching her. But the look of pure, wholehearted joy on his face is just priceless.

And I thought: What if we chased God like that?

I mean, what if chasing after God was the funnest thing we'd ever done? Would it be OK, knowing we might not ever really catch him because his legs are longer. Could we learn to love playing chase with God, just because the chasing part is what's really the most fun?

I've known people who have been so weighted down by this feeling that God was not close. I've felt that myself. Many times. Who doesn't? I mean, try to honestly answer this question: Do you ENJOY God?

What if God really wants more than anything to just play chase? What if God is constantly inviting us to just come and play?

This image keeps running through my head of God running ahead (running really slowly), looking back over his shoulder saying, "Can't catch me..." And I want to chase him. I want to chase him to Aroma - I'm pretty sure he likes to slow down there. I want to chase him to the school where I keep catching glimpses of him there in Kobe's teacher. I want to chase him to the Catholic Worker House where I think he stops for lunch. I want to chase him to our small group where he hangs out every Sunday night.

I want to chase him out onto the grassy area outside my window. As I watched this morning, one little class of kids walked out into the yard. The kid at the front of the line walked into the yard and slowed down and looked up. He looked at the white flowers that are literally dripping off the trees. he looked up at the sky. He looked at the old leaves blowing around the yard.

It felt like he was watching God run ahead of him and he was ready to start chasing.