Humility thy name is… Hot Air Balloon?
You never know when you are going to be served a nice big slice of humble pie…. I received mine yesterday morning as I was exiting the shower before church.
I opened the door, as I have done many times before, grabbed my towel, and looked up to see a giant hot air balloon right out our second story window. I screeched some words that one shouldn’t say at all, let alone right before church, and hopped back into the shower.
Now, I don’t know the people, thankfully, who saw me, buck naked as I was getting ready to towel off, but I imagine they were startled as well. I’m hoping I, and my nakedness, wasn’t the cause of them almost landing on the river behind our house. I don’t know where they did finally land, but I am hopeful they made it off the river in excellent condition.
My condition was tenuous at best. I am getting much too old for those kinds of shocks, as I am sure the recipients of my nudity would agree. You would think with all of my doctor’s appointments that being nude in front of strangers wouldn’t be so horrifying, but you’d be wrong. I assure you, I was horrified, but only for a brief moment.
And then I laughed….
You see, I decided a long time ago to find the humor in absurd situations. I come from a long line of people who can find humor even when things look bleak.
When I was getting ready to start my first electron beam radiation, the nurse had me lay down on the platform, and I started to giggle. This was a wholly inappropriate time for a cancer patient to start to laugh, but I did.
I started thinking about how absurd it was that I had a tattoo of a bullseye on my backside, about to get treatment for a cancer whose initials are MF (Mycosis Fungoides). I just found that funny.
I still do….
The poor nurse, who clearly wasn’t used to people like me, asked nervously “Mrs. Brown, are you OK?” upon which I responded, “Yes, I just find it funny that I have a tattoo of a bullseye on my butt, and the initials of my cancer are MF. Don’t tell me God doesn’t have a sense of humor.”
She paused briefly, probably stunned at what I had just said, and then she laughed too.
I look forward to heaven because I know God has a great sense of humor. Read scripture if you don’t believe me. In 1 Samuel 5:1-5, the Philistines put the Ark of the Covenant in their temple of the god Dagon. They kept finding their statue of that god face down in front of the Ark. They’d put it back and the next day it would be faced down again. Come on! That’s hilarious!! God was knocking their statute down in a manner of supplication to His Ark.
The Israelites couldn’t have done it, they didn’t have access. And you KNOW the Philistines didn’t do it. It had to have been God, Himself. Knowing that makes me love Him even more.
Laughing at the absurdity of my accidental flashing of a small contingent of the Huff n Puff Rally isn’t vulgar or mean. I’m laughing at my situation, and I encourage you to laugh at it too. I clearly didn’t do it on purpose. If you don’t believe me, ask Jeff. He was there. He’s never seen me move that fast, and that INCLUDES high school sports. He is quoted as saying, “They will be talking about this in Huff n Puff circles for many years.”
Gosh, I hope he’s wrong, but if he’s not, at least I know my serving of humble pie will be enjoyed. And I’m ok with that. If it cheers someone up and lightens their load a little, it’s worth the extra humility, even served via a hot air balloon….
