I find that I have so much in common with those who are searching for Bigfoot, Mermaids, and Extra-Terrestrials. (I should end the post right there…) After my wife and I get the boys tucked in bed we occasionally peruse the channels for some high quality television. Recently, my favorite show has been Finding Bigfoot. After an episode, I’ve tried my best to incorporate my new found passion for Sasquatch into recent conversations with friends, none of whom seem to share a similar level of intrigue. Last week, Angie was caught up in an Animal Planet documentary about the newly discovered evidence for mermaids. I’m pretty sure the enthusiastic eye-witness accounts were compelling enough to convert her into a believer.

Lovers of these mysteries seem convinced that something more is out there and we need to act on our suspicions. The vast expanse of outer space, our oceans, or untamed forests are calling us to search for these elusive beings. Something or someone must be out there, right?! The enthusiasts who are desperately searching for something in the wilds out there are not altogether unlike the mystics throughout history who quietly search for Christ in the wilderness within. Really, who knows? Perhaps there is more out there. I am convinced, however, that there is more in here. The individual soul contains more mystery and unexplored territory than the deepest depths or farthest reaches of outer space. In 2013 my hope is to listen closer and dive deeper into the inner space which is said to be home to the very image of God. May we all experience more close encounters with our inner Squatch throughout this new year!

Is the idea of being a child-like activist an oxymoron?

I sense that when we imagine the stereotypical legit activist, one who advocates for justice and equality on behalf of the voiceless and powerless we don’t necessarily imagine someone who would appreciate a good Will Ferrell movie. Rather than imagining a whimsical or playful personality my imagination tends to lean toward somber, stoic, and pre-occupied, the type of people who wouldn’t allow themselves to giggle at the odd sounding fart.

This is my experience.

Once I began accepting the prompts to hang among, befriend, and move toward a place of solidarity with the pain and suffering of those from below, I had to accept the wintery emotional state that often accompanies me in those uncomfortable places. And even if I didn’t experience an automatic feeling of sadness to match the hard environments I find myself in, through my own knee-jerk feelings of guilt and shame I often end up there anyway.

My son, Josiah, is 2 and he loves to laugh. To be thrown up in the air and feel those funny feelings in the belly… To make goofy faces at the dinner table… These are the simple and great things that come with the colorful terrain of being a kid. Josiah’s child-like ways will often break down the heavies that sometimes saturate me when I’ve been among those who are hopeless much of the day. Sometimes it brings to the surface an intriguing tension to walk in a home marked by the laughter of a two year old when I’ve just come from dwelling with people and places marked by severe pain.

Jesus says blessed are those who dwell in those cold hard places. Blessed are the poor and blessed are the peacemakers. But he also told his disciples that unless you change and become like little kids again you just won’t understand what the Kingdom is all about. And I believe that being like a child means being able to laugh and find joy in the smallest and goofiest things of life. 

Stumbling upon this unique harmony is just one paradox among many in the spiritual life. It’s a scandal worth pursuing deeply. Advocating for those who are suffering while also pursuing an attitude and posture that is quick to be playful and one that allows for fits of gut busting laughter. Carrying BOTH of these with you in whatever environment you find yourself is the beginning of wisdom. 

Ryan Taylor is a Hoosier by birth but now lives in Denver and works with Mile High Ministries. He’s learning how to be incarnational with himself and others. Find more of this thoughts at: www.tallmonasticguy.typepad.com where this post was first published on January 19, 2011.

Any spirituality that forces us to take ourselves too seriously or not seriously enough is dangerous. We are both saint and sinner. Not one or the other, but both. To see both clearly requires a sense of humor. In an attempt to plumb the depths of this tension Ernest Becker, in his book Denial of Death, says it this way: “Man is a god who shits.” The Psalmist said the same thing with a little more tact.

“What are human beings that you are mindful of them,
mortals that you care for them?
Yet you have made them a little lower than God,
and crowned them with glory and honor.”
Ps. 8:4-5

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Part I – A three part series on spirituality and humor

I don’t have much in common with Chris Rock. He is a rich, famous, African American comedian who is known for his laser-like wit and politically incorrect humor. I am not rich, famous, black, nor am I very funny. However, I get a lot of attention because we share the same name.

I like being associated with somebody who makes people laugh, even if his humor can be irreverent and crude. Humor is risky, precisely because it leans towards irreverence. That’s its nature. Perhaps that is why I trust it so much. It is really hard to be pretentious and funny at the same time. Pretentiousness leads to spiritual death. A good sense of humor signals a certain kind of humility, which is the basis of all good spirituality.

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