And when we take ourselves too seriously, we are grim about the brothers and sisters, especially the dissenting ones, and there will be no health in us and no healing humor.
Interpretation
Taking ourselves too seriously harms our relationships and diminishes joy.
This quote by Walter Brueggemann emphasizes the importance of not taking oneself too seriously, as it can create a grim atmosphere that negatively impacts our relationships, particularly with those who may disagree with us. By fostering a sense of humility and humor, we open the door to healing and maintaining healthier connections with others, which is crucial for our well-being.
In practice
In a team meeting to lighten the mood, one could say, 'Remember, when we take ourselves too seriously, we risk missing the joy of collaboration.'
People notice peacemakers because they dress funny. We know how the people who make war dress - in uniforms and medals, or in computers and clipboards, or in absoluteness, severity, greed, and cynicism. But the peacemaker is dressed in righteousness, justice, and faithfulness - dressed for the work that is to be done.
The task of prophetic ministry is to nurture, nourish, and evoke a consciousness and perception alternative to the consciousness and perception of the dominant culture around us.
Imagination is a danger thus every totalitarian regime is frightened of the artist. It is the vocation of the prophet to keep alive the ministry of imagination to keep on conjouring and proposing alternative futures to the single one the king wants to urge as the only thinkable one.
The power of the future lies not in the hands of those who believe in scarcity but of those who trust God's abundance.
The English country-gentleman galloping after a fox — the unspeakable in full pursuit of the uneatable.
He then departed, to make himself still more interesting, in the midst of a heavy rain.
Things have to be funny first, and if they want to have a point, that's awesome.
Jeremy tried to be an interesting person. The trouble was that he was the kind of person who, having decided to be an interesting person, would first of all try to find a book called How to Be An Interesting Person and then see whether there were any courses available.
Is that a gun in your pocket, or are you just happy to see me?
The test of a real comedian is whether you laugh at him before he opens his mouth.
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