Monday Meme: When The Joke Is On You

How many of us don’t have a problem poking fun at the general public?  There’s probably no harm done either.  Maybe it breaks the ice or relieves some stress.  Just a good laugh, right?  That’s the first meme.  However…

We all come in contact with some people who just don’t so seem so bright, and we think something bad.  We’re polite, but we ponder, “How does this person survive?”  On the more negative side, we might think, “This person is an idiot!”  We do nothing to help; we merely stand in awe of how incompetent or uneducated that person is.  We might have some sympathy, but what do we do about it?  Nothing usually, except stand in awe of how such a person exists, and we are so glad we are not that person.

Then it’s our turn.  That’s the second meme.

We may be out of our comfort zone, or we don’t understand a joke.   How we hope someone might fill us in!  We pray that someone will have the decency to tell us what we did wrong, so we can correct it.  If we stand in humiliation or embarrassment, how we can’t wait for someone will come to our rescue or aid.   Yet, we stare at the eyes of those judging us, with them thinking, “How does this person survive?” or “This person is an idiot!”  We want to defend ourselves, but we are at the other person’s mercy.

This scenario reminds me of the gospel story of the Pharisee and the tax collector.  One side:

“The Pharisee stood and was praying thus to himself, ‘God, I thank Thee that I am not like other people: swindlers, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax-gatherer."

Luke 18:11

The flip side:

“But the tax collector stood at a distance and dared not even lift his eyes to heaven as he prayed. Instead, he beat his chest in sorrow, saying, ‘O God, be merciful to me, for I am a sinner."

Luke  18:13

The moral of the story:  …

"For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted." 

 Luke 18:14