Posted August 1st, 2019
Have you ever thought what a God-given gift laughter and humor is? I have because it is a big part of my emotional baggage…my free-of-charge carry-on on the 747 of life. Do I say this because I am funny? I would love that to be the case, but I am generally much more corny and/or punny with a shake of groany than I am funny. I say that humor is a big part of my carry-on, because God uses humor to help me carry on.
The Bible, while not focused even a little bit on humor, certainly endorses the practice. Here are a few examples of funny things in the Bible:
- 1 Samuel 21: 12-15 says: “And David took these words to heart and was much afraid of Achish the king of Gath. So he changed his behavior before them and pretended to be insane in their hands and made marks on the doors of the gate and let his spittle run down his beard. Then Achish said to his servants, “Behold, you see the man is mad. Why then have you brought him to me? Do I lack madmen, that you have brought this fellow to behave as a madman in my presence? Shall this fellow come into my house?” Not HaHa funny, but pretty sly.
- How about some funny wisdom from Proverbs: “Like a gold ring in a pig’s snout is a beautiful woman who shows no discretion” (11:22); “Better to live on a corner of the roof than share a house with a quarrelsome wife” (21:9). Or how about 22:13? “The sluggard says, ‘There is a lion outside!’ Or, ‘I will be murdered in the streets!'” Excuses, excuses! (On behalf of husbands everywhere…sorry about that…)
- Taunting false gods: Genesis 31:30: “Now you have gone off because you longed to return to your father’s household. But why did you steal my gods?” (What a god…one that can be stolen!) Or how about in the battle of the prophets in 1 Kings 18:16-45 when God, through the prophet Elijah, accused the opposition’s god of sleeping or taking a toilet break. Read this one and tell me God isn’t funny. (Oh, by the way, the other prophets were slaughtered shortly after, so He is also a God of justice and takes that role seriously too.)
- Jesus was a wordsmith to say the least. He laughed and He cried. He loved plays on words too. Here are a couple examples: “What father among you, if his son asks for a fish, will give him a snake? If your son asks for an egg, will you give him a scorpion?” (Lk 11:11-12) “It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of the needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God” (Mk 10:25). Here are some more examples.
- We are made in the image of God and many of us are very funny yet not sinful in the humor. This is perhaps the best proof that God is OK with humor. Jesus laughed many times as did God the Father. Laughter has its roots in joy and Proverbs 17:22 says: “A joyful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones.” “Laughter is the best medicine” isn’t cited verbatim in the Bible, but the idea is unequivocally there.
There is a time for everything, and humor is no exception. I need humor. I crave humor, in a similar way to how I crave joy. When I am sad…and I am sad pretty often…humor helps lift me from the pit of despair. It works that way with mom too. 🙂 Every single visit we joke and make faces and make sounds and the like. Every single time. I love making my mom and the rest of my family laugh, and some days, it completely changes mom’s whole appearance. When she is drifted away, a good toot sound or raspberry or funny face snaps her out of it long enough to make eye contact and communicate a bit. Then the laughs come outside for her and both inside and outside for me.
So I leave you with the call to stay sane and joyful in part with humor. Pray, meditate on the Word, read and memorize the Word…check. But don’t accidentally be a Pharisee and consider laughing to be sinful. Let it be salve to your funny bone and your soul. Don’t wallow in the sadness of the condition. Don’t spend all of your day on Facebook posts helping people vent. Vent with some fun, today.
And yes…and while you are at it, whip us up a cure too. I hate this hot mess of a disease.
#EndALZ
Update: Probably the best day for mom in 2 months yesterday. My stepdad’s birthday is today, so I will see him there today and squeeze and maybe raspberry mom a few times as well. All things considered, things are pretty good.
Sweet 17 update: We may have lost another late entry in the Sweet 17 band of sisters yesterday. I will find out today. Very sad. She was a newer one too. She was funny and cute. I hate to see them go.