I enjoy humor as much as the next person. There is nothing that relieves pressure and stress like a good chuckle. We all get those chain emails that contain funny stories, pictures or jokes. We read them; we get a good laugh. And we hit forward and send them on their merry way to release some humor into another life. We post them on our blogs and share them on Facebook.
I received a letter in the mail yesterday and it contained something that caught my funny bone. I wanted to share it today, but as I was typing it God spoke to me. "Don't". It was not crude or offensive in anyway. It was just a little chuckle. In the overall scheme of things it was just a little sentence that made me laugh that was used as a marketing ploy by a large company. But when God spoke, it made me think. I have so many readers according to my stat counter that come from many different places. I do not know anything about them. I do not know what they are going through in life. I do not know their personal situations, their religious affiliations, their political views, or their core values.
It made me think. What if this one little sentence that lightened my load for a moment and made me laugh offended one of my readers. What is this off-hand remark wounded their soul or "hit home" on what they are going through. Would I want to wound one soul just so everybody else could laugh. The answer was very clear. No, I do not. One thing that I cannot abide is cruelty, even if it is not intended. I do not like to see anyone hurting by something someone else has said without thinking. So I will not share the laughter. Instead, I will share Proverbs 14:13 - Even in laughter the heart is sorrowful; and the end of that mirth is heaviness.
How appropriate is that. There is a lesson to be learned here for all of us. In marketing, the first thing you are taught is to know your target audience. This should be true in all of life's situations. Before you share that next joke, cartoon or video, please, oh please, make sure you know who you are sharing it with. I would hate to have one off hand comment or quote make someone laugh only to remind them of their pain and cause hurt in the end. Have a blessed day.
