Trinity and Humanity

The Holy Spirit still has me laughing and, lately, he is using his brilliance in C.S. Lewis and others to keep me doing so. Recently I was enlightened by Lewis’ logic about how even the coarse jokes we devise about our messed up humanity is an argument for Christian Theology. In his own words,

The coarse joke proclaims that we have here an animal which finds its own animality either objectionable or funny. Unless there had been a quarrel between the spirit and the organism I do not see how this could be: it is the very mark of the two not being ‘at home’ together. But it is very difficult to imagine such a state of affairs as original – to suppose a creature which from the very first was half shocked and half tickled to death at the mere fact of being the creature it is. I do not perceive that dogs see anything funny about being dogs: I suspect that angels see nothing funny about being angels… But once accept the Christian doctrine that man was originally a unity and that the present division is unnatural, and all the phenomena [of coarse jokes] fall[s] into place. – Miracles, pp.206-208

As you can see, Lewis’ basic point is that we laugh at ourselves because something is out of whack and at war on the inside of us, AND WE KNOW IT! I want to carry on with that thought and ask “How do we KNOW it?” How do we KNOW we are fallen within our guts? How do we KNOW that something is wrong within us, so much so that we even joke coarsely about ourselves and others, proving ourselves to be messed up!

The Gospel tells us how we know that we are transgressors and sinners because the Gospel, Jesus Himself, revealed that humanity has never, ever, TRULY, been separated from He, His Father and the Holy Spirit – John 14:20! That he has always sustained all things – Acts 17:28. Jesus also said, “I am the light of the world” – John 8:12!

So, if we embrace that the reason we can and do acknowledge our human brokenness is because we have the Light of Jesus within us, then, we can also acknowledge that something within us is, and always has been, good with the goodness of God the Trinity! Even Adam and Eve knew that they had violated something on the inside! How did they know they had sinned unless there was some kind of light shining from within? Remember, they were ashamed before they heard the Lord God’s voice in the garden! Gen 3:1-13  Not only that, but we are told further in the New Testament that the Father has Adopted all of humanity into His Life and Being in Jesus, and that Jesus in everyone IS the mystery behind everyone and everything (even coarse jokes, I might add!)

Remember, we make fun and laugh at ourselves because the Light of the world, Jesus, is shining in and on our present darkness!!!) – Col 1:25-29.

With those basics of the Gospel in mind, you can see why I have had lots of laughs by visiting and enjoying the dark humor of Despair.com!! Don’t worry; there are no coarse jokes there! There are, however, many laughs waiting for you in and at our darkness! In fact, the motto of the site is: “Increasing Success by Lowering Expectations”. On the front page the CEO of this site writes:  “AT DESPAIR, INC., we believe motivational products create unrealistic expectations, raising hopes only to dash them. That’s why we created our soul-crushingly depressing Demotivators® designs, so you can skip the delusions that motivational products induce and head straight for the disappointments that follow!”

WARNING: THIS site is only hilarious (in my opinion!) if you are having a firm grasp on the Gospel of your Adoption in Jesus at the time you visit it, so that you can truly laugh at its absurdity! If you are truly depressed and/or unable to accept that you are acceptable in Jesus, even in your brokenness, then PLEASE DO NOT GO TO THAT SITE – the adversary loves to kick us when we are down, and I’m trying to help you, not see you hurt!

Here are a few Demotivators© to lower your expectations about the present darkness, and, more importantly, to make you laugh because of the Light shining in our darkness:

ADVERSITY – That which does not kill me postpones the inevitable.

CUSTOMER DISSERVICE – Because we’re not satisfied until you’re not satisfied.

DESPAIR – It’s always darkest just before it goes pitch black.

RISKS – If you never try anything new, you’ll miss out on many of life’s great disappointments.

DARE TO SLACK – When birds fly in the right formation, they need only exert half the effort. Even in nature, teamwork results in collective laziness.

BLOGGING – Never before have so many people with so little to say said so much to so few.

Check em’ all out at www.despair.com.

~ Timothy Brassell