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Hat Gott Humor?

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Ich weiß, die Frage klingt witzig. Vermutlich wird sie meistens von Kindern gestellt, die Erwachsenen sind schon zu sehr im Ernst des Lebens gefangen. Aber jetzt mal ernst: Gott zeigt Gefühle, die Bibel ist voll davon. Er weint, lacht, freut sich, ist zornig, traurig, eifersüchtig; und manche Verse legen sogar nahe, dass er tanzt. Warum haben wir solche Probleme, uns das vorzustellen?

Schuld sind, wie so oft im Westen, die alten Griechen. Aristoteles stellte sich Gott als Ursprung aller Bewegung vor: die Menschen bewegen Objekte, die Sterne bewegen die Menschen, und der „unbewegte Beweger“ bewegt die Sterne. Einige Theologen im Mittelalter fand diese Philosophie so spannend, dass sie sie benutzten, um den christlichen Glauben zu erklären. In dieser strikten Hierarchie der Dinge ist aber kein Platz für ein Gott, der von Menschen „bewegt“ wird: warum sollte ein allmächtiger Gott über den Zustand der Menschheit weinen? Weil er liebt.

Zurück zur Ursprungsfrage. Die Bibel sagt nichts über Humor (wie auch, das Wort gibt es in dieser Form erst seit einigen Jahrhunderten) und wenig über Witze. Einige Passagen sind definitiv sarkastisch gemeint oder stark übertrieben; es gibt Wortspiele und viel Situationskomik (siehe unten, S. 9). Aber witzigerweise klingt nicht alles in jeder Übersetzung witzig – vielleicht haben die Bibelübersetzer es manchmal zu ernst genommen?

All diese Indizien legen nahe, dass Gott Witze verstehen kann. Vermutlich hat er unseren Humor geschaffen. Natürlich gibt es auch Humor, der für falsche Zwecke eingesetzt wird: er überschreitet Grenzen und lacht den aus, der ihn dafür bestrafen will. Ich kann mir nicht vorstellen, dass Gott solche unverantwortlichen Witze mit uns macht, wofür hat er uns denn die „Würde des Menschen“ gegeben. Und so ist es auch unsere Aufgabe, Humor konstruktiv einzusetzen.

Und ich habe das Gefühl, dass in unserer derzeitigen Gesellschaft Humor überbewertet wird. Nicht umsonst reden wir von einer „Entertainment“-Gesellschaft. Aber wenn Gott Humor hat und uns Humor schenkt, will ich lernen, es als gute Gabe anzunehmen und auszuüben.

 

Diese Gedanken sind eine Zusammenfassung meiner Seminar-Arbeit. Wer sie lesen möchte und gut genug englisch kann, ist herzlich dazu eingeladen:

Why on Earth – Laughter? A seminar paper about Raymund M. Smullyan: „Planet Without Laughter“

(© Photo by carnifex82 – CC BY-NC-SA 2.0)

Bigger than the storm

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(Deutsches Original)

The storm is raging, the waves are crashing. There’s an uneasy feeling in the stomach. When Jesus said it was time to leave, didn’t he see the dark clouds on the horizon? Wait, actually – where is he? Didn’t he enter the boat before us?

The waves continue to rise. Oh no, it starting to rain. Navigator, are we still on target? Captain, is our boat still safe? Jesus, Master … where is he?

Sleeping? Peacefully. He doesn’t fear the storm. Look, he’s even smiling.

Or maybe he’s just indifferent? Is he so tired that even this storm doesn’t bother him? Wake up, you have to help us! Master, Master, help us, we’re sinking! There, water is flooding our ship!

He opens his eyes and gives us an bewildered look. Doesn’t he see the danger we’re in? No, I’ve seen that look before. He is looking for something else, something in our eyes. He opens his mouth to speak, but he doesn’t speak to us. He turns to the sea and shouts: „Be still!“

Is it coincidence? Could it be? The rain is weakening, the waves grow calm. We breath a sigh of relief. He sits down and waits, waits for our eyes to rest on him. Finally! he’s going to explain what just has happened. But when he begins to speak, he looks into my eyes and asks:

„Why were you so afraid? Don’t you believe? Our heavenly father is bigger. Bigger than the waves.“
I can’t believe my ears. I had every right to be afraid, with a storm like this! Yet he rebukes me? Who does he think he is? Who is he to command me?

Yet he commanded the storm and it obeyed. Who is he?!? He’s the one who speaks to us in the midst of the storm and says: „Be Still. Trust me and have faith. Know that I am with you. Always.“

Song: You spoke

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Verse 1
You spoke – and chaos started to order
You spoke – and life began to form
You spoke – and darkness became light
You spoke – everlasting is your love.

Verse 2
You speak – and wounds begin to heal
You speak – and fear turns into hope
You speak – and soften hearts of stone
You speak – everlasting is your love.

Chorus
Only one word from You
created all I see
Only one word from You
can change the world in me

Bridge
Restore us, change us,
Conform us to your love
Renew us, transform us,
Do wonders amongst us:

Chorus
Only one word from You
created all I see
Only one word from You
can change the world in me

Verse 3
Your love – long before creation
Your love – foundation of the world
Your love – will reign in me forever
Your love – the substance of my live

Download Lyrics + Chords, deutsche Übersetzung und Akkorde

Why Do We Dream?

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Asking for the roots of dreaming seems like asking „why do we eat“ or „why do we need friends“ – we’re meant to live this way. In my opinion, the real question is: Is a dream significant, is it meaning something?

I would say, in this case the radical constructivist approach makes sense: you create its meaning by believing in it. If you believe, dreaming is nonsense, then you will rarely remember „special dreams“. If you think, dreaming is processing reality on another (subconscious) level, then you actively allow this processing to happen. And if you think, dreams are forecasting reality in some way, you will look back and actually find similarities.

Maybe the difference between dreams and day dreams is not as big as we may think. Both refer to our innermost values and attitudes, so deep inside we often don’t even realize them. And both can cause humans to break out of their tracks, beginning to write a new history.

If you really want my personal opinion on that: dreaming is like living in another world, with different laws of gravity. And sometimes it’s scary to see how much and how little at the same time is depending on my personal will in this world. Sometimes I feel like a supreme king, sometimes like a chased cat. But most of the time, I feel like a child receiving a present and playing with it freely. It’s like eating: without it, I would gradually starve.

So do dreams have meaning? They can. Are they reflections of day experiences? Sometimes. And sometimes, even God can speak through them, bringing new ideas and behaviours.

Farewell, dreamer!

Days like colours

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(Übersetzung ins Deutsche ist hier)

One day, as I woke up, the day was less grey than usual. I took my breakfast, watched my clock to see if there are some minutes left to read something, and then rushed to catch my train. Once inside, this little colour peeked back into my mind …

Some days are green. And I’m not talking about weather here, it may more depend on my inner attitude to it. Those days are calm, peaceful, and in a weird, silent way: happy. Like fresh grass. Wide forest to be explored. Cows, squirrels, birds, they fascinate me, as if they were saying: I’m fine, how are you? Weiterlesen →

Lost & Wanted: simplicity.

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(Deutsche Entsprechung)

Sometimes I miss simplicity. I mean, I don’t really know whether I want it back or not, naivety is certainly not my goal. But … it’s just that the world god incredibly complex. I gave up understanding it. Maybe that’s what I want back: the curiosity of wanting to know more, understanding everything around me, and penetrating every mystery that I encounter. Inspite of my idealism, I settled a bit. „I don’t have to understand everything, just get along with it“, could it be that it got my motto? Nobody said that everything will be perfect, but we should try, shouldn’t we? Weiterlesen →

New rule: No electrical power for anybody. For one day.

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3

(auf Deutsch)

In some countries, there are emergency exercises regularly. What if ? How would society, and each individual in it, react? So here we go:

No electrical power for anybody. For one day. Well, hospitals and the like may get an exception.

And I would be kind, I would announce the power shortage a month beforehand, so that everybody can get prepared. Getting a generator is cheating! But just imagine: no internet, no banks, no flights, no shopping malls … no traffic lights, no cameras, no Playstation, no risk of dying when climbing the high-voltage poles … and billions of tons of CO2 saved! I would see it as an experiment, to detect spots where we ridiculously rely on electricity. Who knows? It could break the trend of using more and more energy every year.

And then I don’t only want the electric sliding doors to stay closed, but I also want the front doors to open. I mean, what can you do at home, not even TV is working! Game evenings are organizing themselves spontaneously, the happy owner of gas cookers invite others to cook at their place; the pile of yet-to-read-book diminishes; the yet-to-do tax return gets done, asking the neighbour for help if necessary (telephone lines are dead, too); and dogs and children are happy to get undivided attention.


The Germans, Part XI : The “Sachlichkeit”

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Kennt ihr „How to be an alien?“ Wir hatten die Aufgabe, einen ähnlich satiristischen Text über den deutsch-französischen Kontext zu schreiben.

In this episode we will learn:

  • how Germans behave in a traffic jam,

  • how they celebrate not being at work (“Feierabend”, literally: celebration evening) and

  • even discover a secret wish of a German woman.

Germans are known for being “sachlich”. What does this mean? The idea is simple: they are able to stay neutral, behaving in a rational way, in spite of circumstances that may provoke or even threaten. Weiterlesen →