When I ‘meet’ a new author and that
author appeals to me, I tend to go on a spree.
I liked Fr. James Martin’s ‘My Life with the Saints’ so much that when I
came across the title of his other work, ‘Between Heaven and Mirth’ I pounced
on it with alacrity. Fr. Martin has a
lovely chatty style, laced with humour and he keeps the brain engaged: my kind
of author, my kind of reading. I thought
the second title would be a laugh a minute.
It’s not. It is a pretty deep
lesson on the link between humour and spirituality. A slightly different take on the maxim: rejoice
in the Lord. And it made me reflect,
remember and relive the gladness in my life.
Can you think back to those times
when you enjoyed a belly laugh at good clean humour that did not offend? Something that cleared the air,
refreshed the spirit and left you feeling re-energised?
I can recall one incident so very
clearly. Hubby and I were in a gift shop
that sold odds and ends including posters and signs. I suddenly spotted one that called forth a spontaneous
guffaw much to his embarrassment - everyone turned to look at me and then at
the sign. Suddenly the whole shop was
filled with chuckles. The
sign? ‘A minute could be very short or very long depending on which side
of the bathroom door you are.’ A
statement I can truly appreciate and that goes for everyone who has known
limited loos and long queues. Yes, it felt good to see the funny side and I
mentally applauded the creator.
Fr. Martin also tackles the question
of whether God (the Saints) and humour can be mentioned in the same breath (my paraphrase). I wonder that anyone could possibly doubt
that. In nature one finds the awesome
(the truly awesome and not the casual adjective that is scattered around
today), the beautiful, the lovable, the joyful and yes, the comical. God created the platypus. Surely he must have
been in a playful mood? I can feel the
happy chuckle all the way from the beginning of creation!
Have you never been subjected to the
cheekiness of monkeys (yes, they can be annoying too)? Or watched a puppy chase
its tail? Or caught dolphins leaping for sheer joy? Or spied a line of ducks
waddle past? It’s a long list – no room here. I am sure that our Creator
intended that element of delight for all of us to savour. The trouble is that
we are usually too busy to notice. We also expect power to be cantankerous, and
we tend to view the Divine with human eyes. We must certainly amuse God even
when we exasperate and sadden.
Here’s one for the road: one of the
resorts, at which hubby and I vacationed, boasted a tame pet monkey by the name of Canute. I treated him to a handful of nuts to coax
him into friendship. He took the nuts,
checked that he had collected all that was on offer, gave my hair a hard tug
for good measure and scarpered. Then hubby went for a stroll. On the return leg, he paused at one of the
garden seats. Canute
happily scrambled onto his knee and sat there for all the world as if they had
been best friends forever (or brothers in a different time frame?). I could not help but laugh at the picture they
made – both with identical quizzical expressions! (Hubby had a way with
animals, but that will need a separate blog.)
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