February 10, 1999
DOWN HOME:
Punch line didn't hit me until a few days later
___Who's the designated jokester in your home? Every family needs a jester, a joke-teller, someone to spice up dinnertime with a heaping helping of jocularity.
___That's my opinion. But don't bring it up for a vote at our house. I'd lose, 3-1.
___Actually, I'm to blame for any no-contest vote on comedy at the Knoxes'. More precisely, my penchant for telling really long, protracted jokeswith pun-afflicted punchlines is to blame.
MARV KNOX
Editor
___"That joke wasn't worth the time it took to tell it," my wife, Joanna, has told me about a zillion times. I know; driving Jo and the girls crazy with a voluminous, plot-twisted punny joke is half the fun of telling it.
___My current favorite joke takes about five minutes to recite, and the punch line is, "Thereafter, everyone knew that the squire of the high-pot-in-noose is equal to the sum of the squires of the other two sides." It's a great groaner.
___But the other night, I struck gold.
___"At last!" Lindsay declared. "Daddy finally told a funny joke."
___My boyhood friend David Parker e-mailed it to me. Goes something like this: A guy visits the doctor suffering from severe fatigue, depression, stress and anxiety attacks. The doc conducts extensive tests and then asks to speak to the man's wife in private.
___"Your husband is seriously ill, but I think you can save him," the doctor tells the missus.
___"The stress is killing him. So, he needs a pleasant environment. Serve him a bountiful breakfast every day. Pack his favorite lunches. When he gets home, don't complain about your day, because it only reminds him of his stress. Serve all his favorite meals for dinner. Don't ever let him do any chores. And pamper him every way you can. If you keep this up for about 10 months, I believe, he'll be all right. You'll save his life."
___On the way home, the man finally gets up the nerve to ask his wife what the doctor said.
___"He said you're going to die," she declares.
___I chuckled when David sent the e-mail, and I guffawed that night at dinner, when Jo, Lindsay and Molly enjoyed my joke. Their laughter sounded like sweet music to a frustrated comedian's ears.
___A couple of days later, I remembered the joke and laughed to myself, an uncommon impulse in congested Dallas traffic.
___Then a more sober thought struck me: Is that what we say to friends, neighbors and others who don't know Jesus as Savior?
___"You're going to die," we may be saying, "just because I don't care enough to do what it takes to make sure you have an opportunity to embrace eternal life."
___Not very funny, is it?Frontpage / Contents/ Masthead / Why We're Here / Links / Archive / E-mail us/ SUBSCRIBE!