Thursday Evening Covenant Group, 3-28-02, SUMMIT HOUSE, TJMC
Dinner 6:30-7:00 (30 minutes)
CHALICE LIGHTING AND OPENING WORDS (5 minutes)
--from "Breaking Down Silence" with Bill McLaughlin, Minnesota Public Radio:
There's a kind of polarity in the Russian temperament - on one side an exuberant joyousness, and on the other a deep melancholy - both of which can sometimes reach heights of madness. I suppose that such a paradoxical emotional dissonance exists in every society and in every human being, but somehow when the Russians express joy or melancholy, the emotions seem higher and deeper than they do in the rest of us.
And there is also a third Russian characteristic - that of the yurodivy….. The yurodivy is a kind of "holy fool" - the person who sees what's really going on in society and has the audacity to say it, but only in a kind of code. If there's a crooked government, the holy fool will maybe perform a weird pantomime or tell a story, one that gets everyone to laugh at first; sooner or later, the more perceptive members of the yurodivy's audience will also recognize in the fool's antics a hidden message. Stating this message in code is protection against the wrath of the authorities.
--from a review of Symeon, The Holy Fool, by Derek Kreuger:
During the church services, he threw nuts at the clergy and blew out the candles. In the circus, he wrapped his arms around the dancing-girls and went skipping and dancing across the arena. In the streets, he tripped people up, developed a theatrical limp, and dragged himself around on his buttocks. In the bath-house, he ran naked into the crowded women's section. On solemn fasting days he feasted riotously, consuming vast amounts of beans – with predictable results. In his lifetime, Simeon was regarded as a madman, as an unholy scandal.
CHECK-IN (15 minutes)
DISCUSSION (45 minutes)
HOLY FOOLISHNESS: (questions to ponder if and as you like)
When was the last time you belly-laughed?
Have you ever made someone laugh really hard? (Not AT you, but in delight.)
What was the story? How'd it feel?
Is there ever anything spiritual about silliness?
OUR COVENANTS—(10 minutes)
Service: Will anyone volunteer to coordinate a simple service project for us to do together before the end of April?
CHECK-OUT (10 minutes)
CLOSING WORDS (5 minutes)
Humor allows us to detach from…trauma for a few moments and gives respite from…emotional chaos. Laughter provides an emotional catharsis. Feelings of anger, tension, and fear can be neutralized and released with laughter. After the laughter we feel strong, resilient, and hopeful. Laughter invites celebration and reminds us of the joy in life.
When people feel shock, horror, or disgust, it is difficult to laugh (but not impossible). Prisoner of war Gerald Coffee shares why American soldiers used humor in the Vietnam POW camps. "Laughter sets the spirit free through even the most tragic circumstances. It helps us shake our heads clear, get our feet back under us and restore our sense of balance. Humor is integral to our peace of mind and our ability to go beyond survival."
Humor can help us survive even during horrible events like the World Trade Center attack. One survivor reports a group of office workers who were running down flight after flight of steps, not knowing if they had the strength to make it to the bottom. By the time they had reached the 11th floor, they were exhausted and couldn’t go on. Then one woman suggested that they pretend it was New Year’s Eve. En masse they began a countdown with each flight of stairs and shouted out. "10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1." This "game" gave them the distraction and energy they needed. Encouraged by the levity, they all made it to the street and to safety.
As George Bernard Shaw reminded us, "Life does not cease to be funny when someone dies any more than it ceases to be serious when someone laughs."
--Patty Wooten, RN, and Ed Dunkelblau, PhD, American Association for Therapeutic Humor