“To him who is in fear, everything rustles.” ~ Sophocles.

I remember finding a book of jokes, when I was quite young.  I was a good reader, and these jokes were fairly easy to decipher especially as the book was illustrated with drawings.  One joke told of a man carefully driving a little car on a narrow and winding country road. Along came a man in a big car who overtook him, forcing him into the hedge.  ‘Road hog!’ he shouts after the big car driver, shaking his fist.  ‘Hedgehog!’ replies the man, laughing as he drives off.  Funny! (Another memory: Funny ha-ha or funny peculiar?).  On another page there was a drawing of two soldiers, the senior one poking his finger in the subordinate’s protruding stomach: ‘If that’s your stomach, pull it in.  If that’s your chest, pull it up!’ 

I told these jokes to my siblings, but I was never sure whether they were laughing at the jokes, or at my serious pronouncement of the jokes! When you are the youngest it can be hard to read the room!   Fortunately, I did not grow up to be a comedian, though I still try to be funny!  They say that a good joke makes you laugh because the ending is not what you expected, that it is the surprise that causes you to chuckle. 

This week the news has included discussion about freedom of speech, and the (temporary) cancellation of a popular late night talk show host.  Those of us who still watch the news, followed in fascination as we saw a big corporation bow to the influence of the government, in the interest of future business deals.  This follows a pattern seen in recent months, and it has been quite disturbing.  Law firms, universities, media entities, have all appeared to cave, rather than fight.  Considering that the first amendment clearly states that the government cannot censor what people or the media say, it is shocking when we see these rights eroded.  And the result is fear: fear of speaking out; fear of being critical; fear of saying what is on your mind.

Yet this week the people spoke loudly, with their pockets.  Disney, the company which owns the network that airs the talk show suffered great losses as subscribers cancelled their membership, and they lost $5 billion in stock value (according to the Economic Times).  And the talk show was put back on the air, with over 6 million people watching the monologue, and another 20 million YouTube views.  The power of the people was unleashed.

In all of the stories about villains, whether in comics or legends, there is usually a trick to defeating the villain, perhaps through finding their weakness, or by the hero discovering some superpower.  It may be that laughter is our superpower, and being laughed at is the villain’s weakness.  Another show that continues to make fun of the audacious abuse of power that we see on display is South Park.  Admittedly, some of these shows may not be to your taste, especially as South Park in particular takes their jokes to a raunchy extreme.  But they serve as a reminder, even if you don’t like their sense of humor, that thanks to the first amendment, they are free to create, and we are free to watch or turn off.

When we see more and more acts of violence in a society that chooses freedom to own guns over freedom to read books, we keep being disappointed in our leadership.  At a time when we need strong leaders to tone down the rhetoric, to respect civil debate over harsh words, to work towards the common good instead of personal enrichment, we are instead being encouraged to hate our enemies, to despise those who are different.  But it is good to be encouraged by the acts of nonviolent resistance that still have the ability to bring about change. 

It may be difficult to stay optimistic when we see the government passing policies that will harm the most vulnerable in our society, when health insurance costs are going to increase drastically, and many will lose their Medicaid benefits.  I find myself looking for a hero, for someone to come in and save the day, to make sense of all that is happening.  But perhaps we are the leaders we are looking for, we are the ones who will have to make our voices heard, through our vote, through our protests, through our laughter.

As we look for things that make us laugh, that bring us joy, that help us smile, I am tickled to read of some new additions to the Oxford English dictionary this week. They have included ‘World English’ words and phrases, including some from the Caribbean.  So if you want to understand phrases such as broughtupsy and carry-go-bring-come, you may look them up in the OED!

And if you find that things are becoming overwhelming, take a break, escape from doomscrolling and nervous news watching and restore your energy through nature, or a book, or volunteering.  In the end, all we are is dust in the wind, this too shall pass.

Have a wonderful weekend, Family!

One Love!

Namaste.