Opus 2025-461: Different Strokes…

When we go out to eat no meal is really complete unless somebody dumps a glass of water.  It can be in their lap.  It can be on the table.  It can be in someone else’s lap.  Years ago it was dumped over someone’s head.  Different people respond different ways.  I’m sure you’ve noticed that.

Why is it that in the same situation, some people will laugh, some shrug, some get angry.  And of course they’re always those who don’t even notice.  I remember when I was teaching I had one uptight administrator who would often say to me, “That’s not funny, Mr. Pumice.”  I had another who observed me in class and complimented me on my use of humor.  I would venture a guess that one had a sense of humor and the other didn’t.  I would also tend to guess that one was an uptight, woke liberal and the other was a closet conservative.

One of the great qualities of life is being able to laugh at yourself.  I know when I’m walking down the street and I trip over a crack my first reaction is anger.  When I find myself turning around and glaring at the crack, it’s time to laugh.  Do I really think that that crack lifted his head in order to trip me?  The jokes on me. 

We have the option within ourselves of choosing how we are going to react to what goes on around us.  I think of the recent murder of Charlie Kirk.  I actually did not experience any anger or rage.  My predominant emotion was sadness.  I think I wrote about that before.  I think that when things like this happen we need to take a bigger picture and think seriously about how we should respond.  If you are a garden-variety pagan, then go find Conan the barbarian, borrow his sword and come out swinging.  If you are believing Christian, it’s time to put the vengeance aside, leave that to God and seek justice.  You don’t seek justice for revenge.  You seek justice because it is the best thing for society and for your neighbors.  Yes, justice can get violent but it is totally different from vengeance.  Attitude is a game changer

In most situations I choose to laugh.  That tends to get me in trouble.  I tend to make jokes when I should be standing there with a stern face and inward guffaws.  I think being able to laugh at yourself and others goes a long way to the Lord reducing stress.  Feel free to join me on the road to humor.

homo unius libri