Funny people

In Psalm 15.13, we find these words, “13 A glad heart makes a happy face…’” I grew up around a lot of happy faces and funny people.

There are a lot of things I miss from my formative years: thirty-five cent packs of baseball cards, ice cream cones from Coon’s Den, and Sour Cream and Onion Doritos, to name a few. But of all the things I miss about the years I spent growing up, I think the thing I miss most is the frequency with which I spent time joking around with funny people.

Laughter, jokes and stories were a part of my everyday life. My Granddad knew at least two thousand jokes. And he could describe a brown paper bag and make the story funny.

Some of my lifelong friends are the funniest guys I have ever known. My brother and my cousins are funny. You had to have thick skin and quick wit to survive around my friends and family growing up.

My hometown is full of funny people. My hometown just so happens to be the home of the comedian, Southern Momma. But I have no idea how it took us until the late 2000-teens for us to produce a “real” comedian.

Being funny was a part of our culture. People told funny stories at weddings, baptisms and funerals in my community. And the crowds would roar with laughter. And many times, the crowd wasn’t laughing with the person who was being talked about, they were laughing at the person who was being talked about. And that was OK! Because we knew that everyone had their day. Some days it was your day to be cracked on and some days it was your day to do the cracking on others.

I cannot count the number of times I laughed so hard that I cried while growing up. And I miss that.

I just don’t feel like people laugh like we once laughed.

Maybe it’s because we are so distracted by our everpresent phones. Or maybe we are too busy looking for reasons be offended. I don’t really know why we don’t laugh as much anymore.

There are a lot of church people who have no sense of humor. I’ve suggested to some of these fine brethren that maybe they should add a verse to the church song ‘If You’re Happy and You Know It’. Maybe a reminder like this would help, “If you’re happy and you know it, tell your face!”

e.e. cummings said, “The most wasted of all days is one without laughter.” There are too many of these days, nowadays.

I long for days with funny people. Because I know they will be good days.

I miss laughing so hard that my stomach hurts. I love to tell a good joke and hear a good joke.

Are you with me? If so, give me a call.

We will find a front porch. Tell some jokes. Laugh with each other and at each other.

Joey Haynes is a follower of Jesus, married way out of his league, has two of the coolest children in the universe and is blessed to work with an amazing community of believers known as The Church at Rome.