The youtube clip below is an interview of Father Mike Pfleger of St. Sabina's Church in Chicago Illinois by Fox News about his relationship with Rev. Jeremiah Wright. The clip, which had to be slightly edited to fit into 10 minutes, shows Father Pfleger take a Fox News reporter to task on his network's coverage of Rev. Wright, and on the larger issue of the condemnation of any who criticize America. The father's words are beautiful in their truth and direct in their focus.
Obama's ability to tap into popular culture to make a political statement is astounding. Yet, to take it one step further, I find myself wondering if "brushing the dirt off your shoulder," in this context isn't also tapping into a spiritual truth? Isn't it Buddhist non-attachment? Isn't it turning the other cheek? And, to take it one step further, isn't this the type of political leadership we need? The ability to let bygones be bygones? There are very few countries in the world that we have not offended by our policies, or that have offended our current political leadership for not following our policies?
January 20, 2009, we can all brush our shoulders off, and move towards a better future.
Holy Crap, the "Deep Thoughts" guy from Saturday Night Live is a real person! Here is his wikipedia entry. His ability to write and quickly take you in unexpected directions is astounding.
Before insulting a man, walk a mile in his shoes. That way, if he gets mad, you're a mile away - and you have his shoes.
Anytime I see something screech across a room and latch onto someone's neck and the guy screams and tries to get it off, I have to laugh because, what IS that thing?
If trees could scream, would we be so cavalier about cutting them down? We might, if they screamed all the time, for no good reason.
When I was a kid my favorite relative was Uncle Caveman. After school we'd all go play in his cave, and every once in a while he would eat one of us. It wasn't until later that I found out that Uncle Caveman was a bear.
One thing kids like is to be tricked. For instance, I was going to take my nephew to Disneyland, but instead I drove him to an old burned-out warehouse. "Oh no," I said, "Disneyland burned down." He cried and cried, but I think that deep down he thought it was a pretty good joke. I started to drive over to the real Disneyland, but it was getting pretty late.
Maybe in order to understand mankind we have to look at that word itself. MANKIND. Basically, it's made up of two separate words: "mank" and "ind." What do these words mean? It's a mystery and that's why so is mankind.
If a kid asks where rain comes from, I think a cute thing to tell him is, "God is crying." And if he asks why God is crying, another cute thing to tell him is, "Probably because of something you did."
To me, it's always a good idea to always carry two sacks of something when you walk around. That way, if anybody says, 'Hey, can you give me a hand?,' you can say, 'Sorry, got these sacks.'
And my favorite:
If God dwells inside us, like some people say, I sure hope he likes enchiladas, because that's what he's getting.
For the longest time, I've thought that there is a different level and type of insight that be accomplished with humor. It's a complex and many layered theory of mine. It just seems that things can be said more poignantly and insightfully with humor.
I think this idea started for me when I started listening to George Carlin. It just seemed that he was giving it to you much straighter than anyone else on TV, be they politician, commentator or newscaster. The same can be said today for the Daily Show. Maybe it's just easier to call someone else's absurdity if you are using absurdity yourself.
Another possibility is that it's easier to tell the truth if you are making a joke out of it. Maybe it's an extra layer of protection, or a bit easier than just the straightforward truth.
Or, maybe by triggering extra parts of your brain, humor gets the mind working on more levels than just statements or facts. I'm thinking about zen koans, parables, and Jesus' strange statements. I mean, he could have just said that rich people wouldn't get into heaven, but instead, he gave the absurd image of a camel passing through the eye of a needle. Sadly, I found a book once that was trying to talk about the humor of the Gospels, but it was so freaking boring! (not that this blog is much better so far)
Maybe, just maybe, there something in humor that touches on the power to help people enjoy themselves. When I was in sixth grade, we had to memorize a poem. Most everyone ran for the Shel Silverstein books, but my friend Brian Piasecki and I decided to do Abbott and Costello'swho's on first routine. It was a gigantic pain in the ass to memorize, especially before the internet where we could have at least found a script. But when we got into our rhythm, it was fabulous. We had the class and the teacher rolling on the floor. We got invited to other classes and to assemblies. It was awesome having that power for a while.
Why am I thinking about all this? boing boing posted a link to the 50 greatest comedy sketches of all time from nerve.com. I'm slowly working my way through them and I wanted to share them with you. I'm not like my friend Terry, who doesn't attribute where he gets his stuff from..... (see? Half joke, half truth!) I love ya, big Lou!
A non-traditional seminary graduate. Interested in sustainability, embodying spirituality and faith, interfaith practices, and using humor as a method of truth telling.
