Humor
“Laughter is carbonated holiness.”—Anne Lamott.
too much fun
Anne Lamott is a brilliant writer who helps us look for the humor in the truth.
Without question, the God of our understanding has a sense of humor. Therefore, our spiritual life or relationship with God should reflect that humor. Some things that happen to us can only be explained by acknowledging that our God undoubtedly has a sense of humor! For example, this is the God who keeps bringing annoying people into my life–until I realize that what bothers me about them is something unrecognized in myself. I recognize this as one of God’s little “jokes.”
Sometimes, there are situations that can only be tolerated by our having a sense of humor. There was a boy in our medical school class, Mike Levinson, whose frequent quote was, “You’ve got to laugh, or you will cry!” Some challenges then were so formidable that we had to find some lightness in them. When we can acknowledge humor and even absurdity in life, the Spirit is working in us to comfort us. If the joke is at someone else’s expense, making fun of another—it is not from God. I see God in situations where I can see the humor in some of my own character defects, my sins. “Goodness, gracious, God, I just did it again!”
I learned about humor and character defects from 12-step groups. It is not “gallows humor” when something deadly serious is made fun of in a silly or seemingly disrespectful way. There is a fine line.
My mother did her best in her lifetime, but I did not appreciate her. I can now remember that whenever I would call her, I would expect her to be different, instead of contemplating how I might change my way of relating to her. As I now look back on this, rather than beating myself up, I see how humorous it is to “do the same thing over and over the same way and expect a different result.” It is so accurate. It is amusing. It is also insanity!
When I become too serious or am with a friend who looks at life too somberly, my experience is that our playing is the antidote for both of us. It might be playing with our children or grandchildren, or being with friends who know better than we do how to lighten up and “let go.”
Joanna https://www.joannaseibert.com/