I have a not-so-secret dream to be a clown.  As a kid, I dressed up as a clown for my kid sister’s birthday party.  As an adult, when I temporarily left my software development career, one of the alternates I considered was being a clown.  I’ve done the clown thing at Pioneer Girl events: dressing up, doing balloon twisting, juggling, …  I wouldn’t consider myself good at it, but it does seem to be a theme in my life.

One of the avenues of “clownship” that appeals to me is that of a Christian clown.  Clowns seem to cause polar reactions.  Folks are either clown-phobic (a few, and often little kids), or are drawn to them and interested to see what the clown does or says.   What a great platform for a whole bunch of things:  for just giving someone the gift of a little bit of enjoyment in their day; for giving a parent the gift of seeing their child light up; for distracting someone from pain, whether that be physical pain in a hospital or emotional impact; for giving someone just plain attention which in some cases is a gift some folks too rarely receive; and for expressing truths in a way that causes folks to look at them in a new light.  I’m really attracted to the concept of gospel clowning, a way of sharing God’s truths in a manner that helps folks look at things in a different manner.  If I just go up to you and tell you God loves you, you’ll treat that as an odd behavior and throw away the message.  If I find a way to show you that in a gospel skit, well, you expect odd things from a clown and might just hear it out.

So….  I’m on the lookout for gospel clown skit inspiration.  Got to do one at our church talent show a few weeks ago, and hoping to use that to seed thoughts in a few folks’ minds to start a little clown troupe.  If you’ve got ideas, thoughts, donations, interest, …  and oh yeah, that prayer stuff, too – all ears.  Or, in my case, all clown feet.