We are Funny People

Here in the gray Indiana winter, the body and soul get sluggish. Christmas is over and we resolve to take off those extra pounds of homemade fudge, sugar cookies, gravy and mashed potatoes—an Indiana eccentricity is mashed potatoes with noodles (yes, noodles) on top. It seems that all that starch can dull the senses as well as the body. We feel as enthusiastic as Seattle slugs and are about as interesting, but we resolve to do better.

Sometimes amid all the resolutions of the new year, no matter how meritorious and well-intentioned, we start to take ourselves far too seriously. Obviously, as Christians we take the faith and God’s call on our lives seriously. However, we forget that we become more human to other people when we let down our guard and laugh at ourselves.

In a soon-to-be-published manuscript, United Methodist professor and evangelist Bob Tuttle talks about facing a thug with a gun—and throwing up all over him. Bob’s gag reflex may have saved his life. It could be considered an embarrassing story. It was, however, a learning experience for the young pastor—one he was able to tell on himself.

In our not-so-finest-moments we’re humbled and open to instruction from the Holy Spirit. If we’re not too insecure, we can pass on insights learned in our not-so-finest moments. I recall honking at a big white Chevy Caprice that was about to encroach on my lane. I could have simply braked (sharply, I admit) and let the car move in front of me. Instead, I was embarrassed to note that the driver was an elderly lady from my church. Oooops!

Then there’s a story my former pastor told about looking for the family’s AWOL cat before breakfast one morning. He found himself dragging Tony out of a neighbor’s bushes, and then noticed that the woman of the family was looking at him suspiciously through the picture window. The pastor said he pointed to the large feline and mouthed the words, “It’s my cat.” Mercifully neither he nor Tony were arrested for being peeping Toms, and the neighbor learned that pastors are people too.