Dears More to Ireland Den Dis!

Here are another couple of conversations that made me laugh:

Maybe not everyone gets his humour, but I don’t really laugh very much at all. But I certainly do remember having a touch of uncontrollable laughter watching Alan Partridge. And I’ve always enjoyed British comedy. Ireland wasn’t great at comedy when I was young, but then we had Zig and Zag, Father Ted and a few more. But the Brits are the best at comedy in my view. I did watch American comedies too, and some of these were quite funny.

I’ll list some UK and US comedies that I watched over the years, some going right back to childhood:

The Bible and Humour

Humour is such a significant part of life, but you don’t really see it in Scripture. People sometimes attempt to demonstrate it by quoting verses about God laughing at the wicked, but that’s God showing disdain, not finding them funny. Or people might find elements of humour in the parables. But I see humour as part of God’s common grace. Life can be tough, but humour, like music, makes everything a little easier. I’d imagine it was present everywhere throughout the Bible era. But it wasn’t the goal of the writers to record good jokes that they heard 😀.

Some of the comedy shows that I listed include portions that I might disapprove of, but I don’t see the need to abstain from watching TV in the way that some more “fundamentalist-minded” people might. But if someone is happy to do so, I’m fine with strict rules, but I don’t like adopting strict rules and looking down my nose at everyone who doesn’t keep them. That’s the mentality of the pharisees. I probably wouldn’t want to watch something that was very nasty and full of bad language and edgy humour. It would annoy me even if I were an atheist 😀.

It’s true that we should be serious-minded. And humour can sometimes be used to mock people and so on. But I’ve mocked and been mocked in an affectionate way, and I’ve always seen that as a pleasant, shared experience. I’d much rather be among friends who felt free enough to laugh at me rather than with people who were half afraid of me or people who constantly put on a “holy act” in front of each other.

That said, I don’t like being among people who are ashamed of any spiritual feelings and avoid being classed as a “Holy Joes”. It’s all a matter of balance. I can be quite judgmental at times though. I’m just trying to nudge myself toward being a little less judgmental. Jesus himself mixed and mingle with all sorts, and I’d be very surprised if He didn’t laugh and enjoy their company. He saw that they were sinners, but He also saw that all the “holy people” were sinners, and often far worse. They were the ones who ultimately crucified Him. And hopefully, many of them later repented and joined the early church.

When the Apostle Paul was mistaken for a god following a healing that he performed, He pleaded with people to know the true God. And in doing so, He mentioned that God is the one that fills their hearts with joy. He didn’t mention humour specifically, but any legitimate thing that brings us joy is from God 😀.

Acts 14:17
 ¹⁷ Yet he has not left himself without testimony: He has shown kindness by giving you rain from heaven and crops in their seasons; he provides you with plenty of food and fills your hearts with joy.”

It’s true that we seek deeper joy, but the light stuff is great too.

So I can’t find any funny hymns, but here are a few of happy hymns: