For Wilshire Baptist Church
Saturday we met friends for lunch on McKinney Avenue and had a great time catching up on life and current events. This group always takes a group selfie before parting, and it was posted on Facebook with all of us tagged for exposure. That generated lots of comments including this one from friend and mentor Kenny Wood: “Stan Laurel in glasses.”
I found that unusual, so I looked at the picture again. I’m not sure but maybe there is a resemblance. I’m missing Laurel’s bow tie and bowler hat, but I nailed his closed-mouth smile. I’m not a natural smiler and I have a strong blink reflex when taking pictures, and I know I was working hard on both.
But that’s not what this is about. The reference to Stan Laurel reminded me that I had seen a preview of a new movie about Laurel and Hardy that looks really good, and then I went online to see the trailer again and read more about Stan Laurel. I read in a bio that Dick Van Dyke, a protege and friend of Laurel, was the eulogist at his funeral and read The Clown’s Prayer. It’s an anonymous prayer that apparently has been an inspiration to clowns and comedians over the years. The late comic actor Chris Farley is said to have carried a copy in his wallet at all times:
As I stumble through this life, help me to create more laughter than tears, dispense more happiness than gloom, spread more cheer than despair. Never let me become so indifferent, that I will fail to see the wonders in the eyes of a child, or the twinkle in the eyes of the aged. Never let me forget that my total effort is to cheer people, make them happy, and forget momentarily, all the unpleasantness in their lives. Never let me acquire success to the point that I discontinue calling on my Creator in the hour of need, Acknowledging and thanking Him in the hour of plenty. And in my final moment, may I hear You whisper: "When you made My people smile, you made Me smile.”
I’ve read those lines several times now and they may just be the best words I’ve read in a very long time. They turn the world inside out, the attention away from the reader and speaker and toward others. And I don’t think they are applicable only to clowns; they may be suited for anyone who interacts with others — pretty much everyone.
I don’t do New Year’s resolutions, but I think I may try to live into The Clown’s Prayer this year. Not being a clown and all that entails — with grease paint and costumes, pratfalls and tiny cars — but more clowning around in the sense of being a source of lightness and light rather than darkness and gloom.
I had to work to smile for that group selfie, so maybe I’m halfway there.