Monday, January 8, 2018

Laughter


January 8, 2018

Over the past five years, I’ve learned that many of the things for which I am thankful are simple and inconsequential. Perhaps that’s because for many of us, much of life consists of simple and inconsequential things. I am not among those movers and shakers whose words and actions change the course of history. I am thankful tonight for the Carhartt jacket and overalls Linda bought me for Christmas. No matter how cold the weather, I’ve stayed toasty warm while plowing. Even this afternoon, plowing heavy snow in a misty drizzle, I stayed warm and dry.

Another inconsequential item for which I am thankful. Red Green. Yep, you read that right. For the uninitiated, the Red Green show was a Canadian series involving Red Green and his goofy cohorts of Possum Lodge. The humor is pure redneck, but without the malice that often accompanies it. They revel in redneck, and though it occasionally dances along the edge of propriety, his show which is freely available on YouTube, never fails to elicit a laugh from this old sourpuss. Modern popular humor seems to most often have an edge designed to humiliate or demean others. It is rarely self-deprecating as was the case with old time entertainers like Jackie Gleason, Red Skelton, and Lucille Ball. When used as a weapon, humor loses its innocence and its value as a tool for peeling back the veil that hides our humanity. Humor at its best however, has the ability to honestly look at our human foibles with grace and forgiveness. 


Someone once said that the one thing the devil cannot stand is to be laughed at. I believe it, although I also think there are plenty of other things he hates. People, for instance, especially when they are laughing. So tonight, I chuckle my gratitude and thank God for the gift of laughter. I suspect it is a musical delight to his ears.

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