Reflections by Rev. Grant Dawson

Some thoughts on humour

Let’s think for a couple minutes about humour. But not in a particularly humorous way. Because at its roots, comedy arises from the mind’s desire to see and imagine ourselves and our world differently.

Being hit in the face with a pie does not normally illicit laughter. However, when some pompous fool is the recipient of the pastry it becomes funny. Being in a foreign country trying to understand others and to make ourselves understood can be quite frustrating. But watching a fine comedian caught up in the same situation can be hilarious. 

Humour takes life as we know it and asks us to view it in another way so that we can then react to it differently. In this sense, humour is really the progenitor of change. For it is only when we can identify what is wrong or foolish around us that we can act to make life better. 

Jesus was actually quite comical. He asked his followers to stop complaining about people who are blinded by a speck in their eye, while going around with a whole log in their own. He talked about religious people who became so caught up in complaining about the small foibles of others that they could ignore their own much larger sins. (“You strain out a gnat but swallow a camel!”)

Let’s look at the strange but useless routines that we carry on without question. Let’s be willing to challenge the outdated or wrong thinking that we so often accept as correct without reflecting on what we are doing. Let’s be that little piece of yeast that, with a smile and laughter, lightens the whole loaf.

Grant

A Prayer 

Give me new eyes, God.

When I am tired of seeing the same old thing happening over and over again, open me to imagine something new and then to follow that dream.

When I am frustrated by the same foolish debates going on for ever, help me to do something different to change the pattern.

When I find myself becoming upset again by routines that seem unnecessary, may I be the voice that points out the silliness.

Give me, God, new eyes to see and new faith that provides me with the courage to make changes.

Amen.