I always begin my day with meditation and prayer…very serious endeavors. At least they can become serious in my own mind. But today is April Fool’s Day and God can be quite a jokester, don’t you think? The only thing I hear Spirit saying this morning is, “Lighten Up!” “No,” I say. “I must write something thought-provoking, serious, comforting, helpful.” And God says, “Lighten up…you take yourself and your life far too seriously.” I guess this is what is mine to share today, because I definitely need to hear it myself.
“God, give me a sense of humor,
Give me the grace to see a joke,
To get some pleasure out of life
And pass it on to other folk.”
This anonymous prayer is a good reminder that laughter really is the best medicine. In the book of Job (of all places), we find this bit of inspiration: “He will fill your mouth with laughter and your lips with shouts of joy.” So, I think today, April Fool’s Day, is a great day for me to lighten up, and if it feels right, I invite you to do the same. Do something daring, something silly, something joyful…just for the sake of having fun. As Chuck Swindoll once said, “Laughter is the most beautiful and beneficial therapy God ever granted humanity.”
Okay, are you ready for some Spiritual Humor?
One Buddhist monk leaned over to another and quietly asked, “Are you not thinking what I’m not thinking?”
“The secret of a good sermon is to have a good beginning and a good ending, and to have the two as close together as possible.” –George Burns
OVERHEARD… A toast given by a Hindu gentleman at a wedding: “A man not having a wife is incomplete. And once he has a wife, he’s finished!”
A little girl asked her mother, “How did the human race appear?” The mother answered, “God made Adam and Eve and they had children and so was all mankind made.” Two days later the girl asked her father the same question. The father answered, “Many years ago there were monkeys from which the human race evolved.” The confused girl returned to her mother and said, “Mom, how is it possible that you told me the human race was created by God, and Dad said they developed from monkeys?” The mother answered, “Well, dear, it is very simple: I told you about my side of the family and your father told you about his.”
Disciple: Oh wise and all-knowing one, take me to the realm of perfect peace.
Master: If I take you to that realm, it will no longer be peaceful.
If you can live without caffeine,
If you can be cheerful, ignoring aches and pains,
If you can resist complaining,
If you can understand when your loved ones are too busy to give you any time,
If you can take criticism and blame without resentment,
If you can ignore a friend’s limited education and never correct him or her,
If you can resist treating a rich friend better than a poor friend,
If you can face the world without lies and deceit,
If you can conquer tension without medical help,
If you can relax without liquor,
If you can sleep without the aid of drugs,
If you can honestly say that deep in your heart you have no prejudice against creed, color, religion, gender preference, or politics,
–Then you have almost reached the same level of spiritual development as your dog!
Okay, one more…I can’t resist.
A lady went to see her priest one day and told him, “Father, I have a problem. I have two female parrots, but they only know how to say one thing.” “What do they say?” the priest inquired. “They say, ‘Hi, we’re hookers! Do you want to have some fun?’ Isn’t that awful?” the woman lamented.
“That’s obscene!” the priest exclaimed. Then he thought for a moment. “You know,” he said, “I may have a solution to your problem. I have two male parrots who talk, and I have taught them to pray and read the Bible. Bring your two parrots over to my house, and we’ll put them in the cage with Francis and Job. My parrots can teach your female parrots to praise and worship God, and your parrots are sure to stop saying… that… that indecent phrase.” “Thank you,” the woman responded, “what a wonderful solution!”
The next day, the woman brought her female parrots to the priest’s house. As he ushered the woman in, she saw that his two male parrots, Francis and Job, were inside their cage, holding rosary beads and actually praying. Their pious little faces were upturned toward heaven with beaks moving slightly as they prayed intently to the Lord.
Very impressed, the woman walked over and placed her parrots inside the cage with these very devout parrots. After a few minutes, sure enough, the female parrots cried out in unison: “Hi, we’re hookers! Do you want to have some fun?” A long moment of silence ensued. Shocked, one male parrot looked over at the other male parrot and exclaimed, “Put the beads away, Frank. Our prayers have been answered!”
I hope that this brought a chuckle, a sense of lightness to your heart and brightness to your day. As Voltaire once said, “God is a comedian playing to an audience too afraid to laugh.” Don’t be afraid to laugh. The Master Teacher Yeshua told us that “…unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.” And little children know how to laugh. Unity’s Daily Word offers us these words of wisdom: “This expression of pure happiness increases my awareness of God because it allows me to fully experience and share my divinity. When I am joyful, I enter the kingdom of heaven myself.”
May we approach this day with laughter…may we each find what makes our hearts rejoice and our souls sing. And may we each walk our own personal path to en-LIGHT-en-ment with a renewed sense of Joy. We are here to experience the sheer Joy of being alive, and for this I Am most grateful!
May we all be well…stay in touch…know our Unity…and thrive!
And may we know the Absolute Beauty and Wonder of this Grace-filled, once-in-a lifetime day…
