Humor and Hope

Humor and Hope

Imagine an unexpected and inexplicable loss of seventy days of your life.  One morning, you awake, complete your daily rituals of prayer, hygiene, bathing and eating and depart for work.  Surprisingly, the end of the work day comes two and a half months later as you are rescued with thirty-two co-workers.  The trapped Chilean miners lived this frightening scenario before the eyes of the world.  One wonders how they coped during those lengthy days and even longer nights.  How did they retain their sanity and maintain a positive outlook during their geological captivity.  Where did they find hope?

One of the miners utilized humor as a means of living through the ordeal.  Known as the jokester of the shift, he kept his comrades laughing during their lengthy wait for freedom.  In so doing, he helped them stay positive.  More especially, his encouragement prevented them from becoming bitter, depressed or resentful.  Envision the possible negative outcomes had the miners not stayed positive.  Fortunately, someone with his character and sense of humor was amongst the thirty-three trapped miners.  The comical Chilean miner served a divine purpose for his coworkers.  Chances are he kept them in stitches; thereby encouraging and empowering them with hope until the day of their rescue.  Interestingly, his example demonstrates the power of laughing and light heartedness in the midst of trials and tribulations.  Perhaps, we do not always needs a grand philosophical or theological concept to withstand life’s harshest storms.  Quite simply, a side-splitting joke or funny story whose recollection leaves you in tears and the delightful pain of laughing hysterically may be the best coping mechanism.

A friend, Ralph, often reminds our circle of acquaintances of an enduring spiritual principle.  “Don’t take yourself too seriously!”  Such an attitude inevitably leads to egotistical self-reliance.  A further consequence of this approach to life is a misguided belief that only you have a realistic outlook on the facts.  Tunnel vision indirectly alienates people who may otherwise be favorable and helpful.  It limits your ability and willingness to seek creative solutions.  As a result, you remain in the clutches of your dilemma.  In contrast, humor enables you to laugh at yourself and your circumstances; meanwhile being grateful that they are not worse.  Your very existence means you have hope and possibilities to change.  Have you ever had the experience of laughing really hard about a problem only to stumble upon a solution as you dried the tears from your eyes? 

The late Larry Burkett, one of the founders of Christian Financial Concepts which became Crown Financial Ministries, emphasized the importance of staying positive and relying upon humor in the midst of physical adversity and personal challenge.  At the time of his death, Burkett had lived with cancer for nearly a decade.  From the date of diagnosis, he resolved to remain hopeful for a cure and his personal healing.  He avoided negativity in all of its forms: well intentioned stories that had unfavorable outcomes, horrific news reports, cynical people, and focus on natural disasters.  Instead, he established a daily laughing quota which he met doggedly.  To ensure that he received this type of divine medicine, Burkett taped an ensemble of his most favorite and humorous commercials.  Although he had viewed these clips seemingly thousands of times, he laughed as hard each time he watched them as he did the very first time.  Before retiring to bed each night, he would pull out this tape and watch it, if he had not met his laughing quota for that day. 

Instead of losing seventy days of your life, suppose twenty-seven years (ten thousand days) were taken unjustly from you as they were from President Nelson Mandela.  The cooperative machinations of a few Western countries and the South African government eventuated in Mandela’s lengthy prison sentence solely because of his affiliation with the African National Congress which advocated for the civil liberties and citizenship and human rights of Black South Africans during apartheid.  Again, consider the physical, emotional, mental and personal implications for Mandela had he allowed himself to become embittered by this unfair imprisonment.  Chances are he would have died in jail.  Instead, he persevered believing that Almighty God would liberate him.  Mandela found hope in the enduring faithfulness of God who favors justice on behalf of His despised children who cannot speak for themselves.

Summarily, the stories of the trapped Chilean miners, the late Larry Burkett and President Nelson Mandela remind us of the power of hope in all situations.  “Hope [never] disappoints.  On a practical level, their use of humor and reliance upon the trustworthiness of the Word of God offer concrete examples of how to maintain hope while living in the eye of the storm.