Every year about this time I remember with some pleasure a Rotary Club presentation in which I participated. The Rotary in that town asked three religious leaders, the Rabbi from one of the local synagogues, the Priest from the local Catholic parish and me, a Protestant Minister, to come together and prepare a presentation about the relationship of Passover and Easter from our various perspectives. The request was intended to bring awareness of the interrelated nature of our religious traditions and to foster harmony in the community.
Dutifully we met to outline our presentation. We spent a long lunch together trying to figure out how we could make the requested presentation interesting. After serious discussion with several rejected plans, we decided instead to do 45 minutes of minister, priest and rabbi jokes.
A priest, a rabbi and a minister walk into a bar together. The bartender looks at them and says, “What is this, a joke?”
Sometimes it is good not to take ourselves all that seriously but instead enjoy the moment. I know there are very serious issues that separate people, and we must discuss these. Still, the spiritually mature person comes to that table with humility, as ready to listen as to speak.
Several punch lines and lots of laughs produced more unity than the requested presentation. As each of us took our turn as the straight man, we demonstrated a camaraderie and trust that went beyond philosophical and traditional difference. Perhaps our world could use a bit more sharing in laughter and humility in the face of conflicts over tradition and faith.
Grace and Peace.