This poem is facetious, and might just offend some folk. It is based on the structure of the famous hymn ‘What a friend we have in Jesus’. But as ever, there is a serious message in the piece…
What a feast we have in cheeses!
La, la la, la la, la la.
Though some folk it sure displeases,
God loves a laugh, ha ha!
Oh, to share a joke together,
Laughing with and never at,
This is surely heaven’s fest,
Elsewise I’ll have to eat my hat!
When He peers at us down here,
When He sees the things we do,
He may well be shedding tears,
And even end up in a stew!
For we have our tribulations,
On this our little pale blue dot,
But He smiles and He remembers,
When He placed us in the cot!
For He is our Father Abba;
Doting, boasting to the max,
Boring all the saints and angels,
With His tales of all our acts.
For our God is utterly biased,
One-track-minded in the extreme,
And we shouldn’t ever worry
That we’ll find true comforting.
For I’d like to think that Jesus,
Enjoyed a pie and pint and joke,
With His mates, the twelve apostles,
When they went round healing folk.
Oh, what laughs they must’ve had,
On those nights out on the roads,
And their many anecdotes,
Must have lightened heavy loads!
Yet when Jerusalem was calling,
And His end was drawing near,
Well He knew the awful torments,
And His heart was halt with fear.
Was it then at such dread moments,
That a laugh or three might lift,
The all-embracing grip of tension,
That no amount of prayer could shift?
Do you think a sense of humour,
Is unbefitting to our great God?
He who made us in His image,
To be straight-laced seems quite odd?
For if I needed demonstration,
Of God’s delight in creasing up,
I need only look in the mirror,
To be furnished with proof enough!
What a treat we have in wheezes,
Oh to laugh and dance and sing!
Whatever else is being Christian,
If not to bring His joy to men?
So banish all those long sad faces,
“Thou shalt not’s” and mortal frowns;
There’s more good than bad in Easter;
We can learn a lot from clowns!