Humor can help keep us level-headed

Did you hear the story about the small boy swallowed who some coins and was taken to a hospital? When his grandmother telephoned to ask how he was, a nurse said, “No change yet.”

Or did you hear about the two silk worms who had a race? They ended up in a tie.

Over at the High School, one of the teachers confiscated a rubber band pistol from one of the students in an algebra class. It was a weapon of math disruption.

Another joke for math students: The roundest knight at King Arthur’s roundtable was Sir Cumference. He acquired his size from too much pi.

I like good jokes. Unfortunately, I only know bad ones. I remember a time when things were going poorly, and I was “down in the dumps.” I took the afternoon off and went to a movie. It was a silly one, and I laughed until I cried. It was a healing moment. I saw that movie later, and actually, it wasn’t a very good one. But it was what I needed at the time.

Did you know that marathon runners with bad shoes suffer the agony of de feet?

Humor keeps us from taking ourselves too seriously. (Those who get too big for their britches will be exposed in the end). When Abraham heard that he and Sarai, his wife, were going to have a child in their old age, he laughed. (Genesis 17).

Later in the Bible, the Preacher of Ecclesiastes tells us, “For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven: a time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted; a time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up; a time to weep, and a time to laugh, a time to mourn, and a time to dance . . .” (Ecclesiastes 3: 1-1 NRSV).

(The butcher backed into the meat grinder and got a little behind in his work).

The story of Jesus’ death is tragic. It is full of pain, despair and agony. Yet Jesus had the last laugh. The folks who had been watch his tomb discovered with joy that he had risen, and had defeated even death. So evil and death were mocked on Easter. Jesus took pain and death and turned them into joy! That is the greatest gift of them all.

Today, I wish you the gift of joy!

And remember, when you’ve seen one shopping center, you’ve seen a mall.

Pastor Tom Hyde

First United Methodist Church