Obviously there’s nothing special about the picture. But I saw this tent at an outdoor Cancer Benefit that I recently attended. Though the event had several exceedingly poignant moments, including a survivors walk which brought tears to my eyes, the thought of a funeral home showing up to sponsor the event using their graveside tent as shading struck me as a mixed message at best.
It made me laugh.
And then I felt horrible for laughing. But I don’t know why. What kinds of subjects are themselves off limits to even inward feelings of humor? (I can think of a couple of rules: It’s better to poke fun at the powerful than the powerless, and one buys oneself a little license for humor if one is willing to be self-deprecating first and foremost.)
But all in all I confess there very few subjects I consider to be inherently out-of-bounds for me. Humor and irony are the most distinctly human things in the universe: neither God nor animals seem to indulge in them as much as do humans.
And I’m pretty pro-human.
It made me laugh.
And then I felt horrible for laughing. But I don’t know why. What kinds of subjects are themselves off limits to even inward feelings of humor? (I can think of a couple of rules: It’s better to poke fun at the powerful than the powerless, and one buys oneself a little license for humor if one is willing to be self-deprecating first and foremost.)
But all in all I confess there very few subjects I consider to be inherently out-of-bounds for me. Humor and irony are the most distinctly human things in the universe: neither God nor animals seem to indulge in them as much as do humans.
And I’m pretty pro-human.
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3 comments:
God uses irony also. Just look at the end of the book of Job and see how God speaks out of the whirlwind. Lots of irony and sarcasm.
Surely you're right here.
Oh, Adam, where are you???
And think about the entire book of Jonah--one of the few books in the Bible that makes me laugh out loud. Not smile. Actually laugh.
God: "Do you have a right to be angry about the vine?"
Jonah: "I do. I am angry enough to die."
You gotta laugh. Love that Jonah.
It is good to know that since God uses people like Jonah, He can certainly use flawed people like us!
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