Dear people of God:

I hope you remember comedian Steve Bhaerman, aka Swami Beyondananda, who visited us last September. He told us about the four principles of Cosmic Comic Consciousness:

1. It’s a joke; laugh.
2. Practice self-facing laughter.
3. Find the joke hidden in the picture.
4. Commit random acts of comedy.

His latest e-newsletter reminded us of the value of laughter in times of stress. Even Jewish prisoners of the Nazis helped themselves live through hell by telling jokes.

So this year I intend to resurrect an old practice that I haven’t done for some time: Holy Humor Sunday. The Fellowship of Merry Christians has promoted observing the Second Sunday of Easter (April 19 this year) as Holy Humor Sunday, celebrating the reality of the Resurrection of Jesus as the best practical joke ever played. I don’t know that Easter is behind April Fools Day, but I do know that the Resurrection has left Satan with egg on his face.

I need your help. Many of you have sent me jokes over the years; usually I get a good laugh, and then delete them. Well, now I want to collect some over the next week. Email me (robert.keefer@pcmwindow.org) (by April 15) a joke you love, one that is clean enough to share with the Church, and I may use it. If it’s a church-related joke, so much the better. If it’s a joke that pokes fun at our current situation, great!

For example: I heard a comedian recently imagine the coronavirus as a sentient being, saying to us: I’ve been watching you all for years. Stay home and spend the day in your pajamas. Communicate with each other only electronically. Not interact with other humans. Have everything you want delivered to you. Didn’t I just give you what you wanted?

Well, no, but it made me laugh. It meets the Swami’s third principle: Find the joke hidden in the picture. Can you help us all find the joke hidden in the picture? Send them to me!

Pastor Bob

During the COVID-19 restrictions, I will post special messages from time to time. This one is from April 8, 2020.