Mount Shasta, July 7th, 2005: Daisy, our little white border collie is one year old. From the basement today Adrienne brought the plastic swimming pool. It’s just a Toys ‘R Us special, about four feet across and perhaps eight inches deep. She’d bought it for the dogs, for the hot weather.
On the back deck, she filled it up with cool, clear water.
Tonight after supper, with the sun aslant from beyond the mountains to the west, and the mountain beyond our back yard glowing peach-colored, we sat out back drinking iced tea after supper.
Daisy noticed, for the first time, the little fish printed on the bottom of the plastic pool.
At first I was puzzled at her dipping her head into the water, and biting at the water. Suddenly, I saw it. If I just forget what I know about the refraction of water, then what my eyes actually see are the painted fish wiggling as the water moves, and the wiggling fish are just barely below the surface.
Therefore, any good dog, who was quick enough, ought to be able to bite one of those wiggling fish!
Again and again she circled the edge of the plastic pool, biting into the water. Bite, bite, bite, bite, bite!
See funny Spot!
Plunging her head down into the water — bite, bite, bite, bite, bite! — and then she would lift up, to clear the water from her nose and mouth. She’d look at us, puzzled, as the water poured down from her chin.
We were laughing, and I greatly admired her persistance, and then this made me think about the Angels.
Angels always seem so solemn. They aren’t human, of course. So I wonder: Can Angels laugh?
Is it in them that they can laugh? Can they understand strife? Pain? Release? Freedom? Is anything funny to the Angels? Can you picture an Angel, laughing?
I hope they can.
I hope they can laugh. Because just as we can see how Daisy is caught up in illusion, so too must God see us, caught up, day by day, in illusion.
It must be very funny to God. At least, I’d like to think God is getting the good of it. And that’s why I hope that the Angels can laugh, because surely it will be so much more fun for God, if He’s got somebody to share the joke.
Leave a Reply