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SETTING THE STAGE FOR LAUGHTER!
Laughter! Long before Donald O'Conner made
us laugh in his dance routine entitled Make 'Em Laugh from Singin' In the Rain
God introduced us to laughter. Now if you're like me, you're probably thinking
that laughter, as found in the Bible, is first seen in the story of Abraham and
Sarah when God told them that they would have a child of their own. They
laughed, of course, since Abraham was as old as dirt and Sarah was no spring
chicken.1
But long before Abraham and Sarah, God set the
stage for laughter in the Garden of Eden. He set the stage by doing four
things. First, he created a perfect world. In Genesis 1:31 - 2:2
we read:
God saw all that he had made, and it was very
good. And there was evening, and there was morning-the sixth day.
Thus the heavens and the earth were completed
in all their vast array. 2 By the seventh day God had finished the work
he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work. 3
And God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from
all the work of creating that he had done.
God rested, not because he was exhausted, but
because he was utterly satisfied with a job well done. In six days he had
brought order out of chaos and had declared it to be perfect in every way. Incidentally,
our word "cosmetics" comes from the Greek word kosmos which means "to
make order our of chaos." And, as you know, the cosmetic industry
flourishes because most of us look like "chaos" at 6:00 in the morning. We
attempt to do something with this face of ours and at some point say -"Well,
I guess that will have to do."
But unlike us, God rested not because he had given
up trying to reach perfection nor because he had ran out of time. He rested
because everything was perfect. In part, this means everything behaved
like it was suppose to behave. The sun came up every morning at its appointed
time and the honeybee performed its task flawlessly.
Everything was good as created - even the insects
that tend to annoy us. As Ogden Nash once quipped, "God in his wisdom
made the fly/And then forgot to tell us why." In reality, he saw no
reason to tell us. It's enough to know that we live in a well-ordered universe.
This well-ordered universe in the foundation of
laughter. It is the foundation of laughter because laughter can only occur
in an ordered and somewhat predictable universe. Or, to state its converse,
in a world that is nonsensical there can be no nonsense (no laughter). For
in a world where everything is a surprise, nothing is a surprise.
And, as it turns out, this element of surprise
is what makes us laugh. Somebody does something or says something that
doesn't fit our expectations and we laugh. Or, as Terry Lindvall observes
in his book on laughter, we laugh in response to unanticipated revelation. Obviously,
this can only happen in a well-ordered universe.
For example, on Friday the administration at CHS
asked all 2nd Hour teachers to pass out Student Accident & Health Insurance
pamphlets. This is a pretty easy task for it takes just a few minutes to
pass the needed number down each row. Students are then encouraged to take
them home and have their parents consider purchasing coverage. The students
stuff them in their packback and promptly forget about it.
But suppose while passing them out you, as the
teacher, tripped over someone's backpack, landed on the floor, and pretended
to be knocked out. After getting everyone's attention you jump up and explain
the importance of having insurance on a campus where anything can happen. Is
there any value to this approach?
Sure! Using the element of surprise you've
prompted students to laugh and have gained their full attention. But more
important than gaining their attention, research has shown that humor improves
one's memory. Advertisers have long suspected this to be the case, hence
we have lizards selling insurance and a sit-in-your-van comic team inviting us
to drive into Sonic and indulge ourselves.
In 1994 a psychologist by the name of Dr. Stephen
Schmidt of Middle Tennessee State University researched the effects of humor
in regards to long-term memory. He had undergraduate students read
sentences like this one: "There are three ways a man can wear his
hair: parted, unparted, or departed." He also had them read straight
versions of the same sentences: "Men can wear their hair with or without
a part, unless they are bald."
Which sentences do you think were best remembered? You
guessed it! The funny ones. The words from those sentences were recalled
far better then the unfunny one. This only works, of course, in a well-ordered
universe where we expect tomorrow to be the same as today until we're surprised
by unanticipated revelation.
The second thing God did to set the stage for
laughter is that he placed man in the Garden of Eden. In Genesis 2:7 we
read:
. . . the LORD God formed the man from the dust of the ground and breathed into
his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.
God created man by mixing two very different ingredients;
divine breath and dust. On the one hand, as spiritual beings, we are related
to the angels. On the other hand we are as tangible as jackals, weasels,
skunks, and lawyers. But of all the living creatures man is the
only one endowed with the ability to laugh. We have no evidence that angels
laugh and dogs don't loiter around the fire hydrant yapping and laughing about
their canine capers. Nor do woodpeckers tell knock-knock jokes.
However, in setting the stage man's ability to
laugh is only half the story. The other half is man himself. When
God created Adam he left room for improvement and as any newly married woman
will tell you it doesn't take too long for this need to become evident. Men
say and do some pretty stupid things. If you don't believe this just hang
around them for a few minutes!
Like Brian in the following joke from Reader's
Digest every man has put his foot in his mouth from time to time. The joke
reads:
I felt like my boyfriend, Brian, was taking me
for granted. "You're never home," I complained. "All
you want to do is hang out with your buddies. We only go out if they're
not available.
"That's not true," Brian protested. "You
know I'd rather be with you than have fun."2
Poor Brian, he did it again. He opened his
mouth and said something stupid. It is for this reason that Sarai, at times,
probably wondered why she married Abram and why your wife, and my wife, have
wondered the same thing from time to time. Married or unmarried, it doesn't
matter, people do the funniest things. Sometimes, even the dumbest things
- such as the crook who arranged to get his cell phone back which he left on
the counter of the convenience store he had robbed earlier.
The third thing God did to set the stage for laughter
is that, for Adam's sake, he split his image. He made man and woman in
his own image. In Genesis 1: 26 - 27 we read:
Then God said, "Let us make man in our image,
in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of
the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that
move along the ground." 27 So God created man in his own image, in
the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.
For about two years Adam jumped up and down in
side-spliting laughter at the wonder and beauty of Eve. He settled down
when he discovered that this other gender who wasn't simply divine. She
was frustratingly different. Nevertheless, the two lived as male and female
and the comic possibilities within marriage have yet to be exhausted by the human
race. For example, consider the following scenario.
A husband and wife went to visit his doctor. After
the physical the physician asked to see the wife alone and confided to her. "Your
husband," he intoned solemnly, "is in critical condition. But
if you are willing to fix him three nutritious meals a day, make love to him
every night, and serve his every need, he will live to a healthy old age."
When the wife came out of the doctor's office,
the husband asked, "Well, what did the doctor say?"
"He said, you're going to die."
A Canadian study showed that simple, silly, slapstick
humor such as the Three Stooges appeals to two distinct groups: those with
brain damage and men. To which women respond: "That's only one group!"
While we're on this topic of men and women consider
the following conversation between Charlie and Doris Hickenlooper as played by
Sid Caesar and Imogene Coca:
Charlie: Here we go. (Starts cutting the roast) Boy, this looks delicious! I'll
just take this end piece here . . . I know you don't like it . . . (Puts it on
his plate) And here's a piece for you! (Starts to put it on her plate)
Doris: (Holding out a hand to stop him) No! Take it away!
Charlie: Why? What's wrong with it?
Doris: Nothing! I'm just not having any that's all. Don't
you understand English? I don't want any! Take it away! Eat
it yourself!
Charlie: (Puts down knife and fork, and slams table) Doris, once
and for all, there's something eating you up inside. I want to know . .
. What's wrong with you?
Doris: (Bursts into tears) I'm on a diet! I'm starving. I haven't
eaten a thing all day. All I had was a half a glass of grapefruit juice
and a raw carrot. I'm so miserable I could die! I'm hungry!!
Charlie: You're on a diet? What for?
Doris: It'll make me healthier.
Charlie: You're healthy enough.
Doris: And it will give me more energy . . .
Charlie: You've got enough energy.
Doris: And it'll make me slim and svelte and beautiful.
Charlie: How long will it take?
Charlie, Charlie, Charlie you did it again. You
stuck your foot in your mouth. The skit continues but you get the picture. When
God created male and female he created two distinct genders with the endless
possibility of laughter.
The fourth thing God did to set the stage for
laughter is found in Genesis 3:21. We read:
The LORD God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them.
This is the third garment worn by Adam and Eve
in this chapter. They were clothed in light and lost it in sin. They
clothed themselves in fig leaves and shame and were found naked. Now for
the first time, blood was shed, and it was shed by God himself. To use
the skins of animals it was necessary that some animal had to be slain. This
God did, and it would be difficult to find a simpler picture to show us that
blood must be shed for you and I to be clothed in righteousness.
But in clothing Adam and Eve in righteousness
God gave this couple the hope that the real world in which they now lived was
not their ultimate home. Yes, things were more difficult now and
their relationship had been strained as they blamed each other for the fall. But
in grace God stooped down, provided for continued fellowship, and lifted their
heads up so that they could once again laugh. They could laugh for they
knew they had been saved from themselves, would be saved from the world in which
they lived, and would one day fully enjoy being in God's presence forever.3
1 If
you weren't in class to see Donald O'Conner's hilarious dance routine I strongly
encourage you to check out Singin' In The Rain at your local library and
watch it before you read the rest of this lesson.
2 Reader's Digest, Life In These United States,
September 2006, p. 234.
3 As you and I look at our world we wonder if anyone will
be able to restore peace in so many troubled areas. But God is not shaken
by world events; in fact, he laughs at the wicked. Psalm 37:13
THE JOY OF LAUGHTER 8/13/06 5
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