It’s everywhere! Humor, wisdom, wit, about religion and the church is all over the place! I call it God’s graffiti. It is stuff that brings a joyful jolt to our lives. It stimulates our spirits and make us want to engage with the community of faith and with the source of all that is beautiful, kind, loving, warm and wonderful. It is usually impossible to know who the scribes are who write them down.

     Bumper stickers are sometimes God’s graffiti. Here’s one: “God wants spiritual fruits, not religious nuts.” Or how about this one? “As long as there are tests, there will be prayer in public schools.” Or this one I myself wrote: “Going to the house of God doesn’t make you holy any more than going to the Waffle House makes you a waffle.”

     Stories can be God’s graffiti. Here’s one. Rabbi Levi opened his mail to find a sheet of paper with one word scrawled: “Schmuck.” The next Friday night he said to the congregation as he held up the page, “Sometimes people write letters and forget to sign their names. But this week I received a letter from someone who signed his name but forgot to write his message!”

     Here’s another one. Adam developed the habit of staying out late at night sometimes. Eve became perturbed about this and confronted him. She accused him of running around with other women. “You are being jealous and you are wrong,” he said. “You are the only woman on earth!” Well, the squabble continued until Adam fell asleep. Soon he was awakened by someone poking him in the chest. It was Eve. Adam demanded to know what she was doing. Eve explained she was just counting his ribs.

     Sometimes God’s graffiti comes in the form of one liners you never hear in church. For instance: “Hey! It’s my turn to sit in the front pew!” Or: “Hey! Do you mind passing the collection plate again? I want to double my contribution.”

     Messages on church signs are often God’s graffiti. Here are a couple of examples. “It is unlikely there will be a reduction in the wages of sin.” “Come in for some beatitudes for B attitudes.” Is there a denomination with the cleverest signs? You be the judge. At a Catholic church at Christmas: “Midnight Mass and Toga Party. BYOBJ (Bring your own baby Jesus.)” Assemblies of God church: “Artificial Intelligence is no match for natural stupidity.” Baptist church: “Walmart is not the only saving place.” Presbyterian church: “There are some questions that cannot be answered by google.” At a non-denominational church: “Salvation guaranteed--or your sins cheerfully refunded!” Christian church: “God shows no favoritism—but our sign guy does. Go Cubs!” And a Lutheran church for the internet-savvy reader: “Jesus died for ‘My Space’ in heaven.”

     Children’s explanations of the Bible also stir the spiritual imagination. “Solomon was one of David’s sons. He had 500 wives and 700 porcupines.” Ouch! Or, “The epistles were the wives of the apostles.” It has a certain plausibility, doesn’t it? How about this one? “The first commandment was when Eve told Adam to eat the apple. When Adam told Eve to eat the apple, she slapped him.”

     Today keep an eye peeled and an ear open for the signs that God is—among other things--a lover of whimsy. And you be one too!

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