Leadership Thought: The Kind of Candidate for Whom You Should Vote.

Dear Friends,

E.E, Cummings said, “The most wasted of all days is one without laughter.”

I love laughter, and in every church, I have pastored I have sought to encourage laughter at the staff level. The workplace should be a place of joy. Those serving should always be human enough to laugh at themselves.  Those who feel too important to laugh at themselves rob themselves, their family, and their friends of a great source of joy.

Laughter, levity, humor, joy, are qualities that are needed in today's workplace. They are vital ingredients in any aspect of work, but 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 it was because he had learned that if a missionary doesn't have the ability to laugh, he or she could not survive in the challenging, and sometimes lonely environment of the mission field.

It is true that “A merry heart is still good medicine.” (Proverbs 17: 12). God wants us to have fun, to develop a sense of humor if we don't have one, and to laugh a little, for laughter is therapeutic.

I wish today’s politicians would learn to laugh a little more at themselves, acknowledge their mistakes and admit their failures and shortcomings. I think in acknowledging their vulnerability, they would make themselves far more appealing to the voter who knows they are not perfect, even when they themselves refuse to acknowledge it.

So don’t forget to go to the polls today and vote, and if you find a candidate who can laugh at him or herself and who admits to not having all the answers, you might want to pull their lever. At least you will know that you voted for someone who is honest, human, and who enjoys a good party.

Yours in faith and friendship,

Tom

And yes, don’t forget that as C. S. Lewis said, “Joy is the serious business of heaven.”