A God Who Plays Frisbee?


“I would only believe in a god who could dance.” ― Friedrich Nietzsche, Thus Spoke Zarathustra

Last Tuesday, I ordered online a 165 Gram Wham-o Frisbee. I had a couple when I was a teenager. One time I lent my 165 Gram Ultimate Frisbee to a kid at school and he lost it. The 165 Grammer really soars with good control. Designed for the game of Ultimate, it is the gold standard on the market and has been for decades.   

I told the kid that either he needed to pay for it or trade something of equal value. Or else. I left it up to his imagination of what that could be. He gave me in exchange the Essential Jimi Hendrix Part II album on cassette tape. It was a deeper collection of his music beyond the more popular songs of his that I already knew. It was the beginning of a lifelong affection of his music. So, a good trade. And Craig W. lived to see another day.  

The Frisbee for me is possibly, like Citizen Kane's sled Rosebud, an archetype for youth. Days gone by. But why not throw it again and recapture some of that joy?  I had a cheapo Calvin Klein "Flying Disc" for years that eventually cracked (can't call it a Frisbee as that is a Wham-o trademark, kind of like Champagne has to be Sparking Wine if not from the region of France).     

I texted a good friend who I thought liked to play Frisbee and we arranged to play Guerrilla Frisbee Golf on Friday morning. He has a fairly flexible schedule as I do over the Summer. Guerrilla Frisbee Golf is not an official course. Just pick random objects on a parcel of land, usually trees, and establish an agreed upon par. And then chuck.  One consideration: I wasn't sure it would arrive in time. It wasn't Prime and the delivery window was over a week. So, I was excited when the Frisbee arrived Thursday afternoon. Let the games begin! 

Since it was to be hot, we met at 8:30 AM and spent about two hours playing down at Long's Park in Lancaster. It was so much fun and good exercise. Making exercise fun is one way to stick to it and we had a blast. He is a hilarious and thoughtful guy to talk to, about one of the silliest guys I know but also one of the most serious. We are a lot alike in that way. 

We did have one "hole" where the Frisbee had to land on the amphitheater stage and it was a throw from the side. That was a pretty cool angle. Like a plane circling for a landing.  

I came across this quote recently from Nietzsche in reading the noted book. It kind of came out of nowhere and I wasn't expecting it at all. Most of the writing is impenetrable. Zarathustra is some prophet of a new age descending from the mountain and it is suggested that Zarathustra is really Nietzsche in disguise. I am not so sure how to take the quote; is it Nietzsche's detestation of the dour and serious Lutheranism that he was raised in...with his Lutheran Pastor Father, who died young, being the model of a humorless and unfun rep for God Himself?       
 
A God who dances sounds pretty attractive. A God who had fun creating the Universe and the creatures. Perhaps He yet enjoys His Creation. Despite the tragedy that life dishes out, it still has a big upside. If not, why not just shut the whole deal down and pull Creation's Curtain Closed? Maybe having fun is an affirmation in the goodness of Creation. Is it possible that God has whimsy along with sternness?  Humanity, being who we are, need both sides of God.  

As we threw that Frisbee around on Friday, I felt God's pleasure, in a Chariots of Fire type of way. In the flight of the Frisbee, God is setting Creation free.    
  

  

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