I’ve taught through Psalm 1 several times and each time, it’s just like taking a bath in wisdom. The first verse shows a descending progression. There are actually three progressions happening simultaneously, but one is from wicked people to sinners to mockers/scoffers. I used to be puzzled by that last category; how could a scoffer be worse than a wicked person?? Why is that what it builds up to? Are the people who laugh at stuff the worst of us all?

Later I realized that the laughter is akin to that of the Joker; when someone has lost sense or ability to even reason for morality; all evil or ethics are just a joke. They cannot be rescued because it’s all funny; evil is funny. Sin is goofy.

Humor makes evil more evil.

A while ago, an artist pointed out that a dab of blue makes white look more white, like a cleaner sort of white.

But interestingly, a dab of blue added to black makes the black darker. It makes it look like it’s even more black.

How can the same color make something look both brighter and darker?

Today at my senior care center, I went to visit a sweet old man named Merlin. I walked into his room and found a nurse feeding him breakfast. They both looked up and Merlin said, “Oh he’s here to pester me! This is the guy that comes around to pester me!”

Initially, I was stung for a moment, thinking, why wouldn’t he introduce me as the person who comforted him through his wife passing, or has read scripture with him? But then I smiled, realizing that the humor he added to our conversation was a sign that he liked me more and we were getting closer.

You don’t joke with people you don’t like, or don’t know very well.

The humor made the sweetness of my ministry even sweeter. It made the goodness gooder.

And we all know that humor is good. And it takes a second for us to realize that humor can sometimes be bad — that we can avoid depth, or desensitize ourselves, and so on.

Humor is like blue — it can make the evil more evil by desensitizing it to reason or rationale. It can rob us of depth or attunement to right and wrong.

But it can also transcend the heights of goodness. The blue of humor makes the highs of life higher — no one would want to be at a good place in life but never laugh.

God gives us the blue paint of depth and height.

Maybe it’s also a reminder that life is not black or white; perhaps it is blue.

e

Day 100 of 100 Days of Blog

The post life isn’t black or white; it’s funny like blue appeared first on ethan renoe.