Jan 18, 2026 – Laughter
As I settled back into the heating pad (with my mushroom coffee), wondering what I was going to write about today, I decided to check for a reply to an email I sent yesterday. No reply, but I did see a “Garden & Gun” email -a good magazine if you haven’t yet discovered it – with a feature article by Justin Heckert about Nate Bargatze – a great comedian if you haven’t discovered him yet – although, at this point, I think he’s pretty much a household name, and for good reason. My daughter introduced us to him a handful of years ago, just after his “The Tennessee Kid” special came out, and then we introduced him to just about everyone who stayed past dinner at our house, or even when we were at theirs. We seriously must’ve watched this routine maybe 10 times and laughed each time as if it was the first. I think we laughed more knowing what was coming which may have ruined Nate’s delivery, for the newbies to his brand of comedy.
It’s looking like laughter is our theme for today; and, it’s a good one because it’s so important for our health (mental and physical). I was going to stop writing and go find the article I read recently on the importance of laughter, but a Google search will net you a plethora of research on the topic. News sources seem to prefer shocking us with the worst they can find to hold our attention, but Heckert points out that, “Bargatze’s humor resonates because he knows and shares himself, and polishes his work down to the literal syntax choice of where to drop an elongated breath; but his comedy is also the kind that stands out as a palatable respite in a divided America, stripped of discourse about violence or political destitution. “
The article mentions that Bargatze includes his brother and sister in his comedy (apparently all of his family is fair game), which made me think of what to use for the photo today: the POO mug from my brother. Bathroom jokes (good ones, tasteful ones) seem to make most people laugh, no matter their age. This mug is not of the bathroom comedy genre though. It’s a nod to the nickname my brother gave me decades ago. He started calling me Lynie-the-Poo when I was a child, which somehow morphed into PooMonkey (and has resulted in many monkey gifts through the years), and now at times is shortened to Poo. So, when he and his wife saw this mug at the Peaks Of Otter Lodge on the Blue Ridge Parkway, they HAD to get it for little sister. He’s ten years older so I like to say “younger sister” now at this age. That makes me laugh, especially when he makes that face he makes!
JA – “I AM ALWAYS DOING SOMETHING NEW in your life. So try to keep an open mind when you encounter things you have not seen before – or even imagined…. Tell Me your concerns, and ask Me to help you see the situation from My viewpoint.” See Matthew 9:17, Proverbs 18:10, Matthew 11:28, and Psalm 73:23-24.
Max – 1 John 4:11 – “Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.” Max reminds us, “Every person was created by God to bear his image and deserves to be treated with dignity and respect.” Bargatze treats his audiences with dignity and respect in not getting into questionable topics and language. In his article, Herkert shares Bargatze’s thoughts, “I see the audience. And it’s all different. You see different religions out there. You see different political, like, whatever it is – it just doesn’t matter. I want families to laugh at me. I want them to feel safe when they go there, and can all be together. You should be able to trust that I’m gonna be that relief for whatever you need.” Max continues, “Imagine the impact this idea would have on the society that embraced it. What civility it would engender! What kindness it would foster!” We would think twice about our actions and words if we believe we bear “the stamp of God…. [and] if we believe, truly believe, that every human being is God’s idea. And he has no bad ideas.”
Utmost – Chambers writes, “We should be pouring out now, spending to the last limit, not drawing on Him to satisfy us. ‘Ye shall be witnesses unto Me’ – that means a life of unsullied, uncompromising, and unbribed devotion to the Lord Jesus, a satisfaction to Him wherever He places us.” Bargatze seems to understand and appreciate that he was placed. In Leah M. Klett’s April 2025 article in The Christian Post, which is based in part on several podcasts, she tells about Bargatze’s faith and perhaps the reason for his appeal and success. She wrote, “Though a professing Christian, Bargatze said he wants people of all backgrounds to enjoy his comedy as a family and not label it ‘faith-based.’” She pointed out that “he wants to honor God with his career;” and that, on the Funjelah podcast he said, “God has a path. I’m just here to follow the path so I just kind of wait and see where the doors open.”
Power – Joyce builds on Isaiah 55:8 as she writes, “Whose thoughts are you thinking? If your thoughts are not God’s thoughts, I recommend changing your thinking! If we want to have what God wants us to have, then we will need to learn to think the way He thinks…. You can stop God’s plan by thinking your own fleshly thoughts, or agreeing with others’ or the devil’s thoughts, or you can think God’s thoughts and believe and receive the good plan He has for your life. Who are you in agreement with?”
Prevail #18 – Larson bases her thoughts today on Exodus 33:11 when “Moses entered the Tent of Meeting [and] a pillar of cloud hovered over the entrance.” She points out, “Notice Moses’ humble yet bold appeal to God. And God dialogued with him! God distances himself from the proud, but He draws near to the humble. And He loves faith.” Klett’s recounted Bargatze’s words to David Marchese, co-host of The New York Times podcast “The Interview”, “I am second. Second to God, second to your family. Second to the audience. You kind of live to serve. It’s very much a calling in that aspect…. When I started in comedy, some comics would be like, ‘Well, I’m not for everybody,’ and I was like, ‘Well, why would you not want to be for everybody?’ I want to be for everybody.” What a great way to be and think.
Streams – Cowman pulls from Life of Praise in telling the Bible story in Daniel about “the three Hebrew young men who were thrown into the fiery furnace”. She shares, “This apparent defeat resulted in a miraculous victory. Suppose these three men had lost their faith and courage and had complained, saying, ‘Why didn’t God keep us out of the furnace!’ They would have been burned, and God would not have been glorified.” What if Bargatze had become discouraged early in his career rather than continuing in his brand of family-friendly comedy? Streams concludes, “May we learn that in all the difficult places God takes us, He is giving us opportunities to exercise our faith in Him that will bring about blessed results and greatly glorify His name.”
JC – “Your assignment is to follow Me, allowing Me to direct your path. Let the heights beckon you onward, but stay close to Me. Learn to trust Me when things go ‘wrong.’ Disruptions to your routine highlight your dependence on Me. Trusting acceptance of trials brings blessings that far outweigh them all.”
Think about what makes you laugh – a movie, a comedian, a child telling their brand of jokes, reels about dogs/cats, a sitcom, etc – and settle in for some good emotional and physical healing and energy to flow through you today.
