7 & 7: Humor vs. Humorless

REFLECTION:

There is a weightiness to the world it doesn’t deserve, a heaviness that is self-imposed. Built into the human spirit, whether by Spirit or serotonin, are moments of lightness, of defiance, of resilience, of strength, released through sparkling eyes, lips curved upward, a sound distinct from reasoned words or heavy thoughts. A few in every culture have the skill to reach the hidden space in others where lives our happy defiance, and allow its contents to escape. They defy our pessimism and block it from pressing in, encroaching on our goodness. One person’s release connects to another’s, whose release gains entry to another’s hidden space like any chemical reaction. Fast, spontaneous, creating new believers. Why not Santa Claus after all? If he would protect us. Why not laughter? If it could provide for us until perfection is assured.

MUSES:

I don’t deserve this award, but I have arthritis and I don’t deserve that either.
Jack Benny

He deserves paradise who makes his companions laugh.
The Koran

Laughter is the shortest distance between two people.
Victor Borge

Angels fly because they take themselves lightly.
G. K. Chesterton

I stopped believing in Santa Clause when I was six. Mother took me to see him in a department store and he asked for my autograph.
Shirley Temple

Humor is my sword and my shield. It protects me. You can open a door with humor and drive a truck right through.
Alan Simpson