Will someone please put me in TIMEOUT!

Hello Wednesday, you sure got here quickly this week, you must have been in a hurry. Join the crowd. Right? Welcome again to my little piece of the world where I can't be sure what you will find here but I can assure you that it will be something, on this April 27, 2011. That deal about being in a hurry and not always knowing why reminds me of one of my grandfather's favorite jokes. I've told it more than once, therefore, if you remember it, good, feel free to skip to paragraph two and see what I have there. I don't know what I have there yet since I too am waiting to find out. The joke: It seems this Cajun fellow was standing with some other guys and someone ran up to him and cried out, "Boudreaux, Boudreaux, your house is on fire." The man immediately began running as hard as he could. As he ran, he struggled to keep it up and he began to think. I don't even own a house. He ran a little further and thought to himself, "Hey, my name is not Boudreaux!" Paw Paw Mac did love that little story. It may not be that funny to me or to you but it does present an interesting thought. Have you ever been there? Running so hard to keep up but you really aren't sure for what purpose, or maybe even who you are. Maybe we all could use what I threaten the grand kids with, a timeout. Maybe a little time to regroup, rethink, and even reorder the priorities we tend to be chasing. I suppose these higher fuel costs will make us all more aware of the running here and there that we do and if we choose to do less of it, that may not be a bad thing. Something to think about!

Since I am in a joke sharing mood and since I mentioned the other day about a joke I told to a good sized audience that went over real well, I suppose I should share it with you. Somewhere back in one of these more than 1,000 episodes I've shared this one also, but again, if you remember it, skip to paragraph three, and I'll catch up with you there. The joke is one told by the late Jerry Clower. He was a down home country style humorist and I recall that many years ago we all went to see him when our boys were fairly young. It seems this man had this young boy who was beset with lying all the time. They had a neighbor next door that had a woolly dog and when that dog would come over into their yard that boy would start hollering, "Lion in the yard! Lion in the yard!" The parents would come running only to find that big old woolly dog. They were real upset with the boy because he kept on doing it. Finally, one day when he had cried out again, the dad took him aside and told him. "We are sick and tired of you lying all the time, so I want you to go up to your room, get down on your knees and talk to the Lord about your problem, and you are not to come down until you make it right with Him. The boy did as his dad instructed him. About thirty minutes later he came back downstairs. The dad asked, "Now did you talk to the Lord and get everything right?" The boy replied, "I sure did and He told me the first time He saw that dog, He thought it was a lion too! Okay. That was my best joke and it didn't even belong to me but I gave Brother Jerry credit back then, and I continue to do so today.

Hello again and welcome to paragraph three. If you didn't think those little stories were that funny, that's okay because I might not think the ones you would tell are funny. Different strokes and all of that but surely we all should be able to find something somewhere that will bring a chuckle. I was watching some Disney one day with some of the grandchildren and that laugh track was driving me crazy. No matter what was being said, it was being responded to by that electronic laugh. I pointed it out to the kids and they just shrugged. Why? Because we all, obviously even at an early age, have become conditioned to having even our laughter prompted by a machine. I know they have evaluated this technique and shows with the track get better ratings than those without. That too is somewhat of a sad commentary but not to fear, there is plenty of material out there where no electronic help is needed. Where, might you find such funny stuff? I am glad you asked because there's a source you may not have paid much attention to in the past. And especially if you were like I used to be, a very serious person. Yep. That's right. It's you, yourself, and it is me, and it is the fabric of life that gives us so much potential for a good old guffaw every now and then. For those who may wonder about that word, it means a hearty, boisterous outburst of laughter. Could you use one about now? I could. I think we all could. Have a great day and may God bless each one. Amen.          .....More later.