God’s Funny Bone

Did you ever laugh so heartily that tears trickled down your cheeks and you were gasping for breath? What a gift! Animals spend their lives eating, pooping, mating, and sleeping, a rather boring existence. Humans do those things too, but a sense of humor adds spice to their life. Now, because we are made in God’s image, according to Logic 101, the almighty One must have one too. And indeed he does.

Picture God at the dawn of time, sitting at the drawing board gleefully designing a giraffe, a hippopotamus, a platypus, a kangaroo, and a two-year-old human. This is the One, too, who invented sex to propagate species.

The Bible reveals God’s flair for comedy. Didn’t he make Abraham’s old wife Sarah pregnant when her womb had retired? Eavesdropping the day this was predicted, Sarah cackled at the ridiculousness. Her son is named Isaac, which means laughter.

Then there was the time the Philistines captured the Ark of the Covenant from the Israelites and placed it across from their god Dagon, a statue. The next morning, Dagon had keeled over and lay face down. Take that, false god! Unwilling to admit defeat, the Philistines propped him up. But the next day not only was Dagon prostrate again, but his arms were lopped off!

Let’s not forget the day a boy named David clad simply in shepherd’s garb and armed only with a staff and slingshot faced a heavily armored, javelin-carrying giant. No Israelite soldier had the courage to accept Goliath’s challenge to fight him. The lad, however, dispatched the intimidating enemy with a single well-aimed stone. How droll! But the Philistines weren’t laughing.

Jesus as Comedian

When God came to Earth, he didn’t leave his sense of humor behind. The gospel writers didn’t record times when Jesus laughed, grinned, or even smiled, but it doesn’t take a psychologist to realize he must have, especially on certain occasions.

Surely at the wedding in Cana, Jesus had to struggle not to burst out laughing at the servants’ open-mouthed faces when they discovered wine in the water jars. And how could he help but smile when his fishermen friends took his advice and hauled in enough fish to almost sink their boats?

Like any captivating speaker, Jesus infused his preaching with humor. Visualize a camel trying to squeeze through the eye of a needle—especially a two-humped camel. Picture (or feel) a log in your eye.

Imagine Pharisees straining out a gnat from water but gulping down a camel. In Aramaic camel is gamal and gnat is galma. So Jesus stooped to making a pun, the lowest form of humor!

Note that first-century lamps were oil lamps with flames shooting out, and beds were low. When Jesus referred to a lamp put under a bed, aware that the lamp would ignite the bed, the audience must have laughed. These rural people also must have roared at the silly farmer who strewed precious seed on paths, rocks, and thorn bushes. And the idea that seeds would produce a hundredfold was outrageous.

Jesus was not above playing a prank either. He sent Peter the apostle, a fisherman, to fish in order to catch the payment for both their temple taxes.

My Sore Toe

God sometimes orchestrates events in our life that are downright funny. In my case, humor came into play when I was in pain from a toe, the fourth one on my left foot. A friend called it my “ring toe.”

Ever since learning “This Little Piggy Went to Market” as a toddler, I didn’t pay much attention to my toes. That is, unless a callous, corn, or blister appeared. Mostly, I took these ten strange digits for granted—until with every step, a searing pain shot through my foot. When I visited California, a walking tour was like an ordeal by fire.

Back home, I turned myself in to a podiatrist. Dr. W. said that X-rays revealed extra bones all through my foot. (Ah, that’s why I weigh more than I should, I mused.) The good doctor surmised that a bone in that sore toe had shifted. He proposed removing that bone.

That afternoon, our head nurse said I needed a second opinion, so I drove 45 miles to see another doctor. After examining the X-rays, this doctor, while holding my foot as one would hold someone’s hand, said, “This is a funky foot. Can I keep your X-rays?” Then he said that I might as well have the surgery.

Coincidentally, the day those two men were caring for my poor foot happened to be Holy Thursday, when we commemorate Jesus washing the apostles’ dirty feet!  I had missed my community’s special Last Supper prayer service with different kinds of bread. But now I could hope to walk without wincing.

The Operation

Lying on my back in the surgery room without my clothes, I felt uncomfortable, like I was trapped in a strange dream. The nurses were chatting away as they prepared the doctors’ instruments. One of them glanced over at me and said, “Sister, we don’t often have a patient who can talk. Would you tell us a story?” How bizarre, I thought.

Because I had been writing a preschool program, the story of Harlequin sat on the top of my mind. So, I told the nurses this sweet Italian tale about a little boy whose family was too poor to provide a costume to wear to the town’s carnival. Each of his friends brought the boy’s mother a scrap from making their costumes. She sewed them together, creating a stunning multi-hued costume with a diamond motif. The little boy was thrilled, not only because his costume was the best at the festival but because he was clothed in the love of his friends.

Doctor W. and his partner entered the room, and the surgery began. As the doctors worked, I asked, “Are you finding anything?” My doctor quipped, “We just took out a beer bottle cap.”

Occasionally, I felt a gentle pressure on my lower leg, which was very soothing. When I mentioned this, my doctor said, “That’s Dr. B’s stomach whenever he leans over.”

Afterward Sister Mary Roman, the nurse at the college where I lived, was there to take me home. She said first I should eat breakfast in my hospital bed—after all, we had paid for it. Sister had recently fallen and broken her arm, so she wore a cast. I had been fitted for a wooden shoe. When we arrived at our parking lot, it was raining. Under a large, black umbrella we held onto each other, two wounded women. Quite a sight! Laughing, I hobbled along as fast as I could, happy the operation was behind me.

Thanks to God, a little humor had turned a frightening event into a pleasant experience. And, yes, the surgery was a success.

• What comical things have happened to you?

• When have you been able to spot the humor in a difficult situation?