Lynette and I use New Years day as a reminder to sit down and have a conversation regarding who we sense ourselves becoming. We used set goals but we rarely do rather rather our conversations attempt to articulate trajectory; give voice to the directions we see ourselves moving. Having said that, last year we set a goal. The goal was that within the next ten years we want to attend the Montreal Comedy festival, “Just for Laughs.”
We’re not particularly funny people – I’m pretty intense, a Canadian Mennonite, uniquely gifted in the fine art of self-deprecation. Nonetheless, we love stand-up.
But for me stand-up is more than a good laugh (though that would be enough). One of my self-aware working hermeneutical assumptions is that there is always more meaning to anything I might encounter. I believe comedy, especially stand-up, often serves as applied deconstruction. It holds up a mirror to those aspects of self, institutions, society and helps us to see the absurdities we have come to own as identity. For me hearing stand-up is akin to reading the prophets of old.
BTW – the lecture/discussion I facilitated last night went pretty well. In spite of numerous things that I can improve on and hope to grow from, I came away delighted with the process and the engagement of the students. We came alive and for a few moments lived the Trinitarian life of God in a tangible way.
Peace, dwight
I share your love of stand up comedy, my hope is that your goal (Montreal Comedy festival), and your tragectories are fulfilled.