Welcome, Friends!

I like wordplay. And if the Bible is any indication, God does, too.  It's not only evident in the fact that the first recorded act was performed through the creative use of language ("Let there be..."), but all throughout the Hebrew and Greek Testaments there are numerous examples of puns, alliterations, innuendos, metaphors, ironies, parables, allusions, meaningful namings and re-namings, and other literary devices.

For me as a Christian, the word "word" itself is a significant plaything -- an intentionally subversive re-imagining of an ancient Greek philosophical concept ("logos") in the person of Jesus.

So, when I think of wordplay in this context, I like to think about playing around with Jesus, the Word. And I appreciate the idea that Jesus might want to play around with me.  It's too easy for me to take most things -- especially myself-- way too seriously.  And then life becomes nothing but a burden of obligations and expectations and deadlines to be met or, more often, to be missed. Yet, all the while, Jesus is calling -- like a mischievous truant outside my boarding school window -- "Come away with me.  My yoke is easy and my burden is light." (Song of Solomon 2:10, Matthew 11:28-30)

So, I'm using this blog to set up some playdates for myself and Jesus.  I'll share them with you in the next few posts, and I hope you'll play along in the comments section.  But the basic idea is that the title of this blog -- "Friendly Fire" -- has been intentionally chosen for the many wordplays it conjures up for me. Follow with me as we explore some of them, and maybe we can have some fun wordplaying together.