Most people would say our family looks superspiritual from the outside (we’re actually memorizing the book of Deuteronomy…for fun).  But the real test of how spiritual you are is how you respond to adversity.  Since we arrived in Israel, we’ve faced the threat of terrorism, the ache of loneliness, and the uncertainty of not knowing where we’ll live from one week to the next. God has dismantled everything we built and exposed our foundation.

So how do we get everybody through this time of turmoil in one piece? I’m supposed to say we pray together, and read the bible, and we do.  But there’s another superspiritual survival tactic that’s gotten us through some of our toughest moments:

Improv. Before you click away because you can’t imagine what improvisational theatre has to do with listening to God, stay with me a minute.  Improv is one of the most spiritual activities you can do with your family, or with any small group for that matter.

What makes improv so spiritual?  It’s all about listening (paying attention with your whole body) and obeying (responding with your whole self) as a group.

There’s no “no” in improv. There are no superstars in improv.  There is mutual submission, interdependence, and trust.

and laughter.

This is the essence of the body of Christ in action.

(I confessed to my husband this week that sometimes our role in the kingdom feels less like “ministry” and more like performance art. When I say performance, I don’t mean that it’s artificial in any way.  I mean that God has asked us to take specific, dramatic action, sometimes at a moment’s notice.  We’re learning to listen and respond to God in real time.  Usually no one ever sees or knows about it.)

We have an audience of One who delights in our daring, our laughter, and our willingness to look ridiculous.

Here’s one of our favorite improv games:

The Machine

All participants stand in a circle. One person moves to the center of the circle and does a simple action, coupled with a noise, that mimic part of a machine.  They repeat this sequence of movement and sound again and again.  One at a time, the other participants move to the center and form other parts of the machine, each with its own movement and sound.  Each part interacts with at least one existing part.  You can create an imaginary machine, or mimic a real world machine.  You can vary the game by having the first actor start with a specific machine in mind.  The other participants try to guess the function and join in mimicking that machine.  At the end,  participants guess what machine they were creating.

Here’s a video description with some other variations:

What’s one action you can take today to delight your audience of one?