Sunday Funnies: May 22

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Another installment from my dad’s humor cards.

The backstory: My dad was a Presbyterian pastor for 40 years. He kept a well curated stack of humor cards – little stories or observations that he typed onto 5×7 cards. Then he wrote in the margins when he used that particular item. His humor was often an easy way to settle in to something deeper – by laughing and thinking about the buried truth in these little nuggets, it paved the way to an open heart.

When we cleaned out his desk after he died 7 years ago, I was lucky enough to stumble on this stack. I pull it out regularly to have a little laugh with my dear Dad. Now when I post one of them, I write my note next to his and it feels like a continuation.

PRAYER HUMOR

A daddy was listening to his child say his prayer “Dear Harold.” At this, Dad interrupted and said, “Wait a minute, how come you called God ‘Harold'”? The little boy looked up and said, “That’s what they call Him in church. You know the prayer we say, “Our Father, who art in Heaven, Harold by Thy Name.”

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And this particular four-year-old prayer: “And forgive us our trash baskets as we forgive those who put trash in our baskets.”

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One Sunday in a Midwest city a young child was “acting up” during the morning worship hour. The parents did their best to maintain some sense of order in the pew but were losing the battle. Finally the father picked the little fellow up and walked sternly up the aisle on the way out. Just before reaching the safety of the foyer the little one called loudly to the congregation, “Pray for me! Pray for me!”

31 thoughts on “Sunday Funnies: May 22”

  1. True confession: for years I thought God’s name was Art Hallowed. I heard the Lord’s Prayer as “Our father who [is] Art in Heaven, Hallowed be his [last] name.” When my mother figured out what I was praying and why, she couldn’t stop laughing. Kids, huh?

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    1. Oh, I love this, Ally!! It makes perfect sense! Thanks for the laugh – although I’m not sure whether it should be about kids or adults who phrase things in overly wordy ways…. 🙂

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  3. So funny. I always did use to wonder what trespasses were and why we were supposed to forgive them. Forgiving debts didn’t make any more sense to a young mind, but at least it was easier to say!

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    1. I’m kinda partial to that one too because someone actually yelled at me once for putting trash in her garbage can (in my defense, it was at the curb waiting to be emptied by the garbage service that day). So I need to be forgiven for putting trash in someone else’s basket. 🙂

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  7. These are endearingly adorable! I love how kids often misunderstand words such as “Harold” and trespasses. Makes life fun. I bet your father enjoyed interacting with kids the most!

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  8. “And forgive us our trash baskets as we forgive those who put trash in our baskets.” Priceless! My brother and I did something like this for a Ukrainian song we’d heard when we were kids, and not being able to speak the language we made up nonsense words to go with the fun tune. My dad found it amusing in the beginning and then no doubt very annoying when we kept signing that song over and over and over again!! 😬😜

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      1. Lol! I think we drove our dad nuts with it! We didn’t sing too quietly either but with gusto, repeatedly! 😬😬

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