We all too often forget to laugh, especially in times of need, especially in church. Humor and laughter have unique power for connection, healing, and the restoration of needed perspective and imagination.
As a kind of self-correcting prayer*, then, I offer the opening paragraphs of Doris' Donnelly's excellent article Divine Folly: Being Religious and the Exercise of Humor. I highly recommend the entire piece, but for right now, let it be enough to bring your joys, your concerns, your hopes and your fears, and above all, your corny jokes to our community tonight.
"Jesus, for one, was witty, unpredictable, fully alive, and a person who delighted in, celebrated with, and was open to surprise. [I]t is safe to say that divorcing humor from religion is potentially destructive of true religion. Even when the separation is done with the best of motives, or in ignorance, the results are disastrous because we rob ourselves of the lightness and freedom necessary to notice and then to adore God.
"Life is serious all the time, but living cannot be. You may have all the solemnity you wish in your neckties, but in anything important (such as sex, death, and religion), you must have mirth or you will have madness. " G.K. Chesterton
CURIOUS custom in the Greek Orthodox tradition gathers believers on Easter Monday for the purpose of trading jokes. Since the most extravagant "joke" of all took place on Easter Sunday-the victory, against all odds, of Jesus over death-the community of the faithful enters into the spirit of the season by sharing stories with unexpected endings, surprise flourishes, and a sense of humor. A similar practice occurs among the Slavs, who recognize in the resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth a joy that it is Jesus who has the last laugh.