Leadership Thought: For Teachers and Anyone Else Looking for a Way to Survive These Pandemic Times.

 Dear Friends,

 One of the things I most missed while being away on vacation from our New Monmouth Church team was laughter. We have a lot of fun together as a team, and I think it's because we are always on the lookout for things that will make us laugh. We call these occasions “times of whimsey.” How laborious would be ministry or any other form of service without having some fun with the people with whom you serve. If there is anything  that we need today as we all go through these depressing pandemic times, it is more occasions for laughter.

I still have the quotes on laughter that I kept while I was chaplain and athletic director at Calvary Christian Academy in Fort Lauderdale. They came from a monthly booklet called, “The Master Teacher,” and the quotes were taken from an article titled “Ten Things You Can Do Daily to Be a Better Professional.” The part that caught my attention were these words. “Do your part to create a sense of joy and fun. People work better in a fun-loving atmosphere. Students want to learn when the teacher makes class work and learning enjoyable and a rewarding experience. And colleagues want to work with people who take teaching and learning seriously, but who don’t take themselves too seriously. Smile laugh with people and be willing to poke fun at yourself occasionally. Seek out and enjoy the humor that abounds in every classroom and school, and you’ll endear yourself to others.” (The Master Teacher, Vol. 34, Number 16)

As a coach and former teacher with four children who are all teachers, I hope these words resonate with them as much as they did with me. Laughter, levity, humor, joy are qualities that are not only needed in the classroom, but they are vital ingredients in any line of work, especially in the ministry. One man said, “I won’t send a missionary to the field who doesn’t have a sense of humor.” I suspect he learned that if a missionary didn’t have the ability to laugh, he or she couldn’t survive in the challenging and sometimes lonely environment of the mission field.

Long ago I read On Being a Servant of God by Warren Wiersbe and in one of the chapters he writes about laughter. Let me share a few of the lines that I have underlined from this chapter. “God cannot be solemn, or he would not have blessed man with incalculable laughter” (p 43). “If you want to know what people are really like, find out what makes them angry, what makes them weep, and what makes them laugh…Laughter is a lubricant that helps people work together"( 54). Learn to laugh at yourself. But humor is taboo whenever we are handling what is holy. Don’t be a clerical jester…The ability to laugh at the right time and for the right reason is a gift from God that will make you (better) than piles of pills and tons or therapy,”( p 55).

It is true that “A merry heart is still good medicine” (Proverbs 17:12). God wants us to have fun, and to develop a sense of humor, and if we don’t have one, let me suggest you find someone who does.

And don’t forget as C. S Lewis reminds us, “Joy is the business of heaven.”

Yours in faith and friendship,

Tom