Wednesday 4 February 2009

With house prices tumbling, redundancies snowing, and bills growing like Jack's beanstalk - how long do you give it before the great British sense of humour comes into play? I reckon that before long some joker will bring out a low-salt low-sugar, low-taste economy breakfast cereal cheerfully labelled in bright colours "credit crunch". I know its corny (no pun intended) - but that's the way we cope, isn't it?

Years ago, in the midst of a firefight in the Falkland islands, a British paratrooper struck by a mortar shell screamed out that he had "lost his leg". "No you haven't", shouted his mate "its over here". Hardly had the flames been doused after last year's attack on Glasgow airport, than someone was producing posters with the image of the burning vehicle above the words "Glasgow welcomes careful drivers". ). If we can't cut danger out of our lives - we try at least to laugh in its face.

Sadly, the Christian church has often been seen as the last bastion of the stiff upper lip. We keep our heads by burying them in the sand and pretending nothing bad is happening. That is very definitely NOT what faith is all about. Faith looks the world in the eye, sees both good and bad for what they are…and then carries on hopefully. Thankfully, people of faith are often to be found in the worst places offering the best care and help.

All this noble service doesn't mean that there is no scope for humour, though. Years ago I went to school to pick up one of the children at the end of a particularly dreadful day. Things had gone wrong all around me, and I was in no mood for a joke. A fellow parent caught me at the wrong moment by launching into a fit of mock indignation about the way I had parked my car. Feeling like this was the last straw, I began to defend myself when she broke in and enquired in polite tone whether I had "fitted in a sense-of-humour bypass" during the day. Straight away it burst my self-righteous little bubble and I began to see the rest of my day in a healthier light.

Thank God for people of faith - and especially the ones who can make us laugh at ourselves!