Does G-d Have or Appreciate a (Clean) Sense of Humor?

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meltzerboy said:
Is there anything written in Scripture or elsewhere about this in Catholicism, or any other religion?
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Our knowledge of God is not limited by Scripture. But without a lot of research…I think some of the Old Testament passages containing conversations between God and prophets…I am thinking most easily of one we had the other day in daily Mass where the prophet uses the expression: “stiff-necked people” and other sorts of exasperations expressed to God seem to indicate a very personal, conversational rapport with God, entirely consistent with the forms of conversation that humans-to-humans engage in.

God created humor.
 
God made me, and that required some sense of humor 😉

In Catholicism I think there is more to be said about joy than laughter.
By inference, we are made in His image and there is plenty to be said about laughter
in the Psalms.
Also, ’For John the Baptist has come eating no bread and drinking no wine, and you say, ‘He has a demon.’ The Son of Man has come eating and drinking, and you say, ‘Look at him! A glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’
It would not be too much to say Christ laughed or at least smiled on such occasions.

Of course there are also Proverbs that caution against laughing like fools.

Personally, for me, God chose to speak to Balaam through his donkey and that whole exchange is pretty funny.
 
Mother Angelica said: “We laugh our way to heaven; we cry our way to hell.”.
My own vision of hell is being locked up forever, with Oliver Cromwell and Ayatollah Khomeini as cellmates. Could you imagine more miserable company?

A Scripture passage which always makes me laugh is in St. Johns Gospel, where our Lord heals a man blind from birth, on the Sabbath. The authorities keep pestering the man about the identity of his Healer; until he asks: "I have already told you, and you would not listen. Why do you want to hear it again? ***Do you, too, want to become His disciples?".***(John 9:27) Our lords enemies wouldve seen red! And the cured mans follow-up comments would have rubbed salt into the wounds.(John 9:30-33)
They kicked him out of the synagogue.(John 9:34)

Jonahs moaning when God doesnt destroy Nineveh…

All good humour ultimately comes from God.
 
meltzerboy said:
Is there anything written in Scripture or elsewhere about this in Catholicism, or any other religion?
Click to expand...
One of the Catholic Saints popular for his comedy and pranks is Saint Philip Neri. He said laughter can help a person be humble. One time when a priest was being praised for his sermon Philip had the priest repeat the same sermon 10 times in the same Church…by the time the 10thy time roled around no one was praising the priest. lol He used to shave half his beard and walk around while people laughed at him. Other times when members of his order wanted to do penances like wear a hairshirt he would have them wear it on the outside of the habit which when done others laughed at the person (being laughed at is a true penance). Other times he would impose penances after confessions like telling the penitent they must carry a cat when they walk or their dog.

All in all I think he was a funny saint. Others known for their witt would be Saint Teresa who fell into a puddle and asked God if this was how he treated His friends and God replied yes. Then she said “its no wonder why you have so few”. Saint Padre Pio is other good one for pranks and witt as well as Saint Laurence. who while being roasted on a spit told the executioner that he should be turned over becuase he was done one side.
 
How many times have you prayed for help with something, and either your answer or an offbeat preliminary answer comes back in such a manner that you can’t help but stop and laugh? Half the time I know I’m being teased before I receive whatever it is I need, and but it always helps me stop and put things in perspective and I feel better about whatever problem was bothering me.

I think everyone in Heaven has to have a sense of humor, to deal with all of us still bogged down in earth’s minutiae. 🙂
 
I think God does have a sense of humor, just look at the platypus. 😃
 
The Holy Scriptures tell us that the Lord laughs in derision toward fools and the proud:

Psalm 2:4: “He that dwelleth in Heaven shall laugh at them; the Lord in His throne shall deride them”

Psalm 36(37):12-13: “The sinner shall watch the just man … But the Lord shall laugh at him, for he forseeth that his day shall come.”

Now, what is human laughter, often, but taking amusement at the foolishness or proud ideas of stupid people? This is practically the entire basis of stand-up comedy. When Jerry Seinfeld asks “what’s the deal with aeroplane food?”, he’s making a statement about the planning of airline C.E.O.s, flight attendants, stewardesses, and even we who are content to eat the sloppy stuff they serve in-flight. I think it’s obvious that our glorious Lord created humour, and He laughs with us; occasionally, at us.
 
meltzerboy said:
Is there anything written in Scripture or elsewhere about this in Catholicism, or any other religion?
Click to expand...
The priest yesterday Mass on EWTN warned Catholics about making jokes with the Sacred. we must have reverence for God and all there is in Heaven and on earth, including having reverence for those who holy among us. No it is not ok to use humor or risk commit sacrilege against the Sacred.
 
I think some here are confusing humor with sarcasm.

I also believe that the sacred is not meant to be dealt with lightly; we should always be reverent when speaking about God, Jesus, Mary or anything else that deals with the holy.
 
Timothysis said:
we should always be reverent when speaking about God, Jesus, Mary or anything else that deals with the holy.
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This is absolutely true, in my estimation. The only time I associate jokes with God is when I tell some to Him in prayer. We laugh together! 🙂
 
Jesus’s first miracle took place at a wedding reception, which was probably far from a somber, serious affair. Especially considering the amount of wine on hand.😉

So yeah, I like to think He appreciates humor.
 
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