Weekend-spiration: H is for Humor

Biblical Farside by Gary Larsen

I know God speaks to us through laughter as often as He does through tears. In fact, I love the version of "Matthew" that I caught a glimpse of on DVD the other day. The actor portraying Jesus had a countenance ready to break in to a smile without warning. And all those phrases that sound like severe cuts to His disciples, they were delivered with laughter that gave the effect of chiding a small child. I tend to think it is much more accurate of how Jesus treated His followers. He wouldn't slam them; He adored them and counted them as His family.



So I don't in any way, shape, or form consider this little cartoon to be ridiculing our Father. In fact, when you get past the initial humor, and look at it with a little twist, it's eye-opening. Let me explain what I mean.

When I was a child, my mom had some artifact that she found in her grandparent's attic. It was a simple sign that my brother thought was weird enough to hang up in his room. On one side it said, "Whites." On the other side it said, "Darks."

You probably have the truth behind the sign nailed, but I grew up believing it had hung in a laundromat where certain machines were for the bleach you would use with your white clothes and the other machines allowed no bleach so there would be no chance of bleeding. Made perfect sense to me.

My understanding stemmed from my background. Growing up in the suburbs, I had only a little concept of racism. It never really touched me because I and my parents had close friends from all types of cultures.

Just in case you're clueless about the sign, it used to hang in a bus in Dallas. Essentially, it separated the front section which was reserved for whites from the back section which was left for other races, unless the front section filled up. In that case, the whites got the seats as in the case of Rosa Parks in 1955.

So because of my lack of experience with the essence of the sign, I understood it in a completely innocent way. In the same way, folks who have no experience with the essence of the first few pages of the Bible, no foundation for spiritual matters, have nothing from which to draw out the profound meaning of these verses.

That sure gives me something to think about as I write my next chapter. I wouldn't want the salt and light I'm trying to share get tainted and dimmed by religiosity that someone isn't going to understand. All the more reason to put my pen at His service.

My heart overflows with a good theme; I address my verses to the King; My tongue is the pen of a ready writer. Psalms 45:1

It's easy to fall into the assumption that people will understand where you're coming from when you start talking about the Lord, but that isn't always the case. When was the last time you were hopelessly misunderstood? (Hopefully it was HHHHHumorous?)