The Burdick household has had a steady supply of sidewalk chalk stashed in the garage for the past 7 years and I can safely say that this invention of artistic genius is exactly the kind of toy that God had in mind when He invented “play.” Why, you may ask? Because sidewalk chalk is the most theologically sound piece of playery that has ever existed (and G.K. Chesteron agrees!).
Consider the following arguments:
1) Sidewalk chalk is finite in the hands of a toddler yet infinite in its ability to create.
The tiny hands of the four year old must measure the grade and make the pavement beautiful until the chalk has turned into a nub.
Forgive me if I’m wrong, but isn’t that a perfect explanation of what our mission is as humans, to allow the Creator to use us, His finite creations, to make His world beautiful until our bodies are worn down into the weakness of old age?
2) Sidewalk chalk has one purpose: to make the cold and gray sidewalk look beautiful so as to give joy to the the drawer.
My kiddos create concrete masterpieces every time they go outside and they could not be more proud of their art. I can only imagine what God feels when He sees His own image and likeness flourishing in the comfort of his grace.This is SO much better than the evilness of Play-Doh which hardens into tiny little pieces that separate and multiply themselves as they maim the carpet with heartless deceit.
3) Sidewalk chalk is diverse. It is made up of various colors and it comes in many shapes and forms.
DC Talk sang it best:
“A piece of canvas is only the beginning for
It takes on character with every loving stroke
This thing of beauty is the passion of an Artist’s heart
By God’s design, we are a skin kaleidoscope.”
-“Colored People”, DC Talk
4) Jesus probably would have used sidewalk chalk.
“But Jesus stooped down, and with his finger wrote on the ground, as though he heard them not.” -John 8:6
It was a little dusty in the towns where Jesus’ performed His miracles. I’m sure He would have totally used chalk to write the Good News on the Roman road system there. If not Him, then at LEAST His disciples who would have drawn thousands of arrows pointing to wherever He was.
5) Chalk disappears.
Theology serves its purpose in the mere attempt to discover and learn more about God. And yet, St. Paul tells us that understanding God completely is impossible on this side of eternal life:
“O the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways!” -Romans 11:33
Although it is impossible to understand His ways, we constantly thirst for knowledge of God in much the same way that a child strives for perfection in their artistry of sidewalk chalk. We seek a masterpiece that will never fade away in the storms of life, an image that can be permanently tattooed on our concrete hearts so as to turn them into flesh (Ezekiel 36:26).
What pictures are you drawing on the street corners of the world?
What obra maestra have you sketched into eternity?
What masterpiece have you allowed God to create through your daily grind?
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