04-02-24

ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGS
April 2, 2024
Yesterday, Texas Christian University (TCU) made an important public announcement. They are dropping their historic mascot, the Horned Frog, and going with a Fighting Squirrel. Of course, it was an April Fools’ Joke… and it was good. The TCU Chancellor, Victor Boschini, did a great job presenting the gag on a well-done video.

Why do we have an unofficial national holiday where we try to trick people, usually in a whimsical way but occasionally in a not-so-kind way? I have a feeling that many of you can name an April Fools’ Day when someone got you good. And then there are a handful of examples where the joke went terribly wrong.

In Proverbs 17:22, we read, “A cheerful heart is a good medicine, but a downcast spirit dries up the bones.” From what I find in scripture, humor that does not seek to injure or debase is something honored, and I would even take it a step further and describe it as a gift from God. But in the end, it should be humorous for everyone. Self-deprecating humor is sometimes the safest humor. I have even taken a joke intended to belittle a person or group and simply switched it up and made me the brunt of the joke. If we can’t laugh at ourselves, then we are probably taking ourselves a bit too seriously. We all, usually unintentionally, do some pretty funny things.

Thanks for the capacity to laugh, O Lord, even when I get a good chuckle at my own bloopers. Amen.