Nothing Is Sacred

I have been avoiding the corner where the accident happened. It hasn't been as hard to avoid as I thought it might be, we have a lot of back roads in and out of our subdivision, but this week I finally drove past that intersection. I braced myself for a visit from the ninja, but as I approached, I saw the strangest thing - a man in a long flowing dress standing on that very corner. I had a brief thought of 'Jesus?' before I noticed he was also sporting a matching diadem. He was holding a sign for Liberty Tax Services, dressed in full Statue of Liberty regalia, and with the saddest face I have ever seen on a man in drag. Without thinking about it, I burst out laughing.

I knew it was a gift from Greg, and a reminder - NOTHING is sacred. Yes, there are subjects to be taken seriously at particular moments, and it is inappropriate to laugh at some things at certain times. But for Greg, no joke was off limits. Comedy is tragedy plus time. Everything we laugh at has a root in something that is painful for someone, and Greg believed one of the secrets to life was eliminating the time between when something is painful and when it becomes funny. If we can laugh at the things which are most hurtful or frightening or upsetting, they become less painful and scary, and their power to hurt us is diminished. So of course he would send me something to laugh at on that particular spot.

I believe in some strange and wonderful things that most others would probably laugh at, perhaps not to my face but maybe after I have left the room. But it's OK, because Greg and I laughed at them ourselves, and I think it's what has helped make our faith so unshakable. A god that can't take the occasional self deprecating joke can't be all that powerful in our eyes. And here's the real lesson. Eventually if nothing is sacred, then EVERYTHING can be sacred, and we might all have a little more tolerance and understanding for those whose beliefs are different from our own.