Continuing the discussion from A question about the antiquity of the earth::
I imagine God being delighted that someone finally figured out His little display of art – which answers a question posed about why would God “sit around” for millions of years: He was making fun things for us to discover and be awed and delighted by!
Does anyone have other examples of playfulness in Creation?
Well, the duck-billed platypus has to be one, I think.
And then there’s the ubiquitous pill bug common in these parts. I think it suggests something about God’s sense of fun. Aka the roly poly, woodlouse or armadillid, it rolls up into an amazingly precise spherical shape. When I first discovered the little-known fact that it delivers rectangular-ish, even square, excrement, I laughed out loud. (And I’m sure THAT detail was important for its adaptive survival! 
) I still smile or chuckle when I think of it.
Naysayers will of course deny that God can be fun or delightful or that his works can be, basing that perspective on some of the real horrors in this broken world. (I’m not saying it was ever perfect as YECs would.) But skeptical theism greatly detracts from that argument! Echoing Job, I will not charge him with any wrongdoing.
Psalm 104 certainly has a playful tone, where God takes pleasure in creation.
…leviathan, which you formed to frolic there.
Psalm 104:26
I love that.
(Not necessarily ‘leviathan’ of course. ; - )
I don’t believe in the designer watchmaker God of Deism, so I would not look for an example of this in biology.
Instead I would look for it in relationships… like in the stories of the Bible.
But… the most difficult thing in looking for such an example is the nature of humor and the nature of God. With so much power and knowledge, His humor might be difficult to understand…
The example that come to mind first is the story of Jonah. It is such comedy of errors some think the story isn’t even likely be true… and I am about 50% on that one. If it is a true story, then humor and playfulness on the part of God might describe a lot of it. What also comes to mind are the details in the story of Abraham and his adventures with Sarah, Moses’ confronting the magicians of Pharoah’s court, Joseph with his many colored coat and the reversal in his relationship with his brothers, or the story of Jacob and Esau. Sure there is a lot of seriousness in these stories but I think there is some humor to be found in them as well, especially when you consider those differences between God and man.
If not humor, then certainly irony.
Jesus liked giving his disciples nick names. He was also a known partier. He had to be at least somewhat fun.
Or he was always uncomfortable in the social settings he chose to enter. I can imagine some of the folks I grew up with, hanging tagging along with Jesus in social settings, wearing a very long frown.
Jesus’ first miracle was turning water into wine at a wedding party. Even God likes to spike the punch.
Great question! My answer comes from the creation text of Proverbs 8. From the beginning of God’s creative work, “Woman Wisdom” was there as described in the NRSV translation of vv. 30-31:
Then I was beside him, like a master worker (or little child),
and I was daily his delight,
playing before him always,
playing in his inhabited world
and delighting in the human race (children of adam).
The “delight” that Wisdom expresses is the same delight that God expresses for Ephraim, his dear son, in Jer. 31:20. As Jeremiah prophesied, no matter how often the Lord has rebuked his dear children, his heart still yearns for us, and he will surely have mercy on us.
In the end, God will again play with his children. No longer will he hide his face (Is. 45:15). When we finally “see him as he is,” we shall laugh with him and delight in him forever, as he always intended from the beginning. The Lord’s creative purpose will inevitably be achieved.
Children apparently liked him, so yes.
Puts a smile on my face to imagine him having moments like Blippi with them
Humans can be all the more amusing after that!
I’m so provincial (and old and clueless) – I had to look him up. (My horizons have been expanded… until I forget. ; - )
watch a couple hours of him and I promise you will never forget
Seems like other people were uncomfortable around him more than he was uncomfortable around others. He certainly got invited to a lot of dinners.
I really liked that episode of The Chosen where the kids are kind of spying on him and he ijust invites them into his world and puts them to work.
We need to start watching that – we haven’t yet.
“Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone.” -Colossians 4:6
This is a place for gracious dialogue about science and faith. Please read our FAQ/Guidelines before posting.