Random Acts of Funny

A lot of people have asked me how short I am. Since my last divorce, I think I’m about $100,000 short.
Mickey Rooney, Born on this Day in 1920 (died April 6, 2014)

You know those moments in life when you break out in uncontrollable laughter until the tears come?

We don’t have enough of those.

I had one the other day. I was driving to an appointment and came to a major intersection. I was two or three cars back. The light was green, but no one was moving in any direction. Then I saw the police lights and thought…great…an accident.

But no. Instead a flock of geese had decided to cross at that intersection, and then apparently had decided not to continue crossing. Most of the time geese pretty much do their own thing, and that’s probably what was happening here. But maybe they were somewhat paralyzed by cars approaching them from all four directions.

Not to worry. Two of Chesterfield County’s finest parked their police vehicles, got out and shooed the geese across the road.

I don’t know why. It struck me as funny. Uncontrollably funny. If other drivers had seen me laughing behind the wheel of my truck, they might have been concerned. I suspect, however, that they also were too busy laughing.

The best times of laughter comes with friends.

I recall one situation, a long time ago, that probably wasn’t as funny as we thought it was. I had a summer job working for the father of a high school friend. We were both working for him on our summer break from college. The industry built equipment for the coal mines and the miners went on strike that summer.

So, three weeks before we went back to school, we were both fired. That’s right. He fired his daughter.

At the morning break, we went outside. I don’t know who spoke first, but suddenly (or maybe gradually it was 37 years ago), we both started laughing. I’m pretty sure we laughed through the fifteen minutes of that break and later as we rode home together. She’s still one of my best friends to this day.

There’s just not enough laughter in life. Granted, a lot of life just sucks right now. Take a look at the news. It’s all depressing.

But sometimes you need that relief. And laughter is great medicine.

Mark Twain said, “The human race has only one really effective weapon and that is laughter.”

I’m the type of person who can find humor in just about any situation. My wife shares much the same sense of humor and I think our boys get quite a bit of it as well.

Fortunately, I do get those checks every now and then and know “Oh, I just can’t say that.” One of our pastors calls them “Holy Spirit checks.” Perhaps he’s right.

Of course I’m probably not being spirit-led when when I go to someone and say “you know what I almost said…”

Well, maybe that’s a different spirit.

Still, I think laughter and humor are gifts God gives us. Often to help us find comfort and strength in the dark times. I know I certainly laughed a lot, often inappropriately, when I was going through my cancer treatments.

My ability to laugh at things goes back even further than that 37-year-old story. I was the fat kid in school. (and yes, I still struggle with weight issues thankyouverymuch).

But I was made fun of and picked on. Sometimes called names. For a while it hurt. Then I learned how to deal with it.

I became a smart-ass.

Excuse the language, but yeah, I think that’s a gift.

Erma Bombeck, who certainly knew life’s ups and downs, said “There is a thin line that separates laughter and pain, comedy and tragedy, humor and hurt.”

The way I see it, even in some of the worst times, there’s often a reason to laugh.

I finished reading the Book of Ecclesiastes this week. Some of you would do well to realize that the words are more than just lyrics and turn, turn, turn the pages of Scripture a little more often:

There is a time for everything,
and a season for every activity under the heavens:
a time to be born and a time to die,
a time to plant and a time to uproot,
a time to kill and a time to heal,
a time to tear down and a time to build,
a time to weep and a time to laugh,
a time to mourn and a time to dance,
a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,
a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing,
a time to search and a time to give up,
a time to keep and a time to throw away,
a time to tear and a time to mend,
a time to be silent and a time to speak,
a time to love and a time to hate,
a time for war and a time for peace.

Random Acts of Funny

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