Sunflower Seeds logo

Sunflower Seeds

 

Celebrating Everyday Spirituality

Sunflower Seeds

Celebrating Everyday Spirituality

Time for a Little Humor


If you’ve been a follower of this blog, you know I often stress the importance of hanging on to our sense of humor. So, as we face the beginning of a New Year, let’s take a break from all the heavy and serious things that may be weighing us down, and let’s laugh a little. Why is laughter so important? Because:

“Laughter is the shortest distance between two people.” Victor Borge

“Laughter is the best medicine for stress–and it has no bad side effects.” Anonymous

“… humor is, in a certain sense, the measure of faith.” Pope Benedict XVI


“The best times in our lives were not about what we had, but who we were with.”


With that in mind, let’s begin:



1) It’s all right to have a train of thought—as long as you have a terminal. Bowker

2) I earn a seven-figure salary. Unfortunately, there’s a decimal involved.



3) If you’re paying $3.00 for a bottle of Smartwater, it isn’t working.


4) I’m not in jail, not in a hospital, and not in a grave. I’d say I’m having a pretty good day.

5) Definitions: eternity: the last two minutes of a football game… hamlet: a small pig… acupuncture: a jab well done… coffee: a person on whom one coughs… acre: someone who is sore.


One cute little hamlet…



6) Young student to math teacher: “I can’t wear my new glasses in your class, because the doctor said they’re just for reading.”

7. After recess, a third grader complained to the teacher that another student had called him the E word. The teacher asked quietly, “What’s the E word?” The student replied, “Idiot.”

8. Before class began, the sixth grade teacher wrote this on the board: William Shakespeare 1564-1616. One student asked, “Is that Shakespeare’s real phone number?”


9. Proverb: “The person who catches a big fish does not go home through the alley.”


This fisherman will NOT be going home through the alley…


10. A conclusion is the place where you got tired of thinking.

11. Only the mediocre are always at their best. Jean Giraudoux

12. Why is it that those who know the least, know it the loudest?

13. Lord, the day you made the skunk,

Did you act before you thunk? Y. Wright


14. When in doubt, mumble… When in trouble, delegate… When in charge, ponder…


15. The last place a person gets converted is in the pocketbook.


16. The priest began his homily with these words: “My job is to speak to you. As I see it, your job is to listen. If by chance you should finish your job before I do, please raise your hand.”


17. I can please only one person a day. Today is not your day. Tomorrow doesn’t look good either.


18. Bad spellers of the world, untie!



19. Love may be blind, but marriage is a real eye-opener.



20. Some people are born on third base and go through life thinking they hit a triple. Barry Switzer


21. Veni, vidi, visa. (I came, I saw, I shopped.)



22. I plan on living forever. So far, so good.



23. And finally, here’s an answer to the age old question: Does God laugh? Meister Eckhart wrote:

My Lord told me a joke.

And seeing him laugh has done

more for me than any scripture I will ever read.


Dag Hammarskjold


I’ll conclude with a quote I copied (while a college student!) from the book Markings by Dag Hammarskjold, one of my all-time heroes. He was the Swedish-born Secretary General of the United Nations from 1953-1961. He died in a place crash in Rhodesia, now Zambia:


“A grace to pray for—that our self-interest, which is inescapable, shall never cripple our sense of humor, that fully conscious self-scrutiny which alone can save us.”





Did any of these tickle your funny bone?


Would you like to add something funny? If so, use the comment space below.



Wishing all of you a Blessed New Year!




As we face the beginning of a New Year, I thought it was appropriate to find a Christian song about hope. Here is Phil Wickham’s “Living Hope.” It reminds us that, for us Christians, our hope is a person: Jesus.





I invite you to submit a comment below!

15 Responses

  1. 1, 3, 4, 5, 10, 11, 16, 19, 20, 23 – I laughed out loud at some – as I usually do from your lists. So many thoughts flash through my mind for some of these. Some faces pop up, too. Thank you, Sister, for your site and sharing. Your bring so many thought provoking, consoling, humorous, and more-thoughts. I look forward to your weekly posts. While I don’t automatically get them, I have found a reminder for myself. I don’t know the proper terms, but on my phone on Safari I searched for you and I just don’t close that page-every Monday I check to see what I’ve left “open” and I get a treat when I find your site. I pray you and all your followers have a blessed, healthy, and happy 2023.

  2. Humor. I hadn’t thought about it as a gift from God. I immediately started to laugh when I asked God for a joke of the day. No words. No one liners. Just laughter. Thank you.

  3. Wonderful! Sr Melanie, I’m signed up for your blog but am no longer receiving your emails. I tried to subscribe again but it says I’m already registered. Same thing happened to a friend. I looked you up again while reading your entry in Living Faith for today. If you’ve changed anything about how your emails go out, maybe see if some addresses got left behind? Thanks!

    1. Lynn, We are having technical difficulties with my blog. You can easily access it by searching Melannie Svoboda blog or Sunflower Seeds Melannie. It should come up for you. Hopefully our tech team can locate the problem soon. Thanks for reading my blog and for commenting! Melannie

      1. I am still missing your blog. Missed so many.
        Found you again through The Living Faith.
        I have a new iPhone so
        Maybe I can connect to your Sunflower Seeds
        Linda M

  4. I saw a t-shirt that said, Veni, Vidi, Veggie: I came, I saw, I had a salad. I also had a high school student who thought the address of the school, posted under the school sign near the front entrance—1857–was the date of the school’s founding. She even argued with me about it.

  5. Hello Sister Melannie !
    I always cover the name of the author in “today’s good news” portion of Living with Christ. and I’m about 90% correct that’s its you. You always hit the nail on the head ! Thank you for not talking over my head and cutting through all the useless clutter. Perfect !!! Love You, Rory

    Why is it that my feet smell and my nose runs ? ha,ha

  6. Growing up, our family called omelets “hamlets” as that was the name given by Dad, whose specialty for after-church Sunday brunches was filled with one or another meat from little pigs.

    I am a grad of the school with the 1857 address. I recognized those numbers immediately! In fact, I came to this blog as a result of an invitation to the Regina Alumnae Retreat 2023. Assuming you’ll bring humor as a gift from God, I’m now inclined to attend!

    1. Hi, Deb,
      I’m glad the “hamlet” reminded you of your Dad… I hope to see you at the Regina Alumnae retreat in 2023. Yes, I’ll be sure to bring a little humor–and I’m sure the participants will bring some too! Melannie

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Latest Blog Posts

One thing I like about praying: anything goes. I didn’t always believe this. As a little girl, I thought praying was mostly something you did in church on Sundays, or something you did before eating supper, or you did kneeling beside your bed every night. I didn’t realize that anything

Some of us will experience a total eclipse of the sun on Monday, April 8, 2024. The Cleveland, Ohio area is in its direct path. We will be privileged to witness this astronomical phenomenon from 1:59.20 PM to 4:28.57 PM (EST) (How’s that for pinpoint accuracy!) Even if our typical

Meet Sr. Melannie

Hi and welcome to my blog! I’m Sister Melannie, a Sister of Notre Dame residing in Chardon, Ohio, USA. I’ve been very lucky! I was raised in a loving family on a small farm in northeast Ohio. I also entered the SNDs right after high school. Over the years, my ministries have included high school and college teaching, novice director, congregational leadership, spiritual direction, retreat facilitating, and writing. I hope you enjoy “Sunflower Seeds” and will consider subscribing below. I’d love to have you in our “sunflower community.” Thank you!

Subscribe to Blog

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Loading

Upcoming Events

Finding God in the Ordinary and Amazing: An Afternoon with Sister Melannie

Sunday, May 19, 2024 – 1:30 – 4:00 Central – via zoom

Sponsored by the Portiuncula Center for Prayer – Frankfort, Illinois

Fee: Donation

For details visit: [email protected]

Weekend retreat at Villa Maria Education and Spirituality Center, Pulaski, PA
October 11-13, 2024

October 11-13, 2024

Details to follow

Retreat with the Sisters of Loretto, Nerinx, KY
September 8-13, 2024

September 8-13, 2024

Details to follow

Retreat at Lial Renewal Center, Whitehouse, OH
August 11-18, 2024

August 11-18, 2024

Retreat at Heartland Center for Spirituality, Great Bend, KS
April 14-19, 2024

April 14-19, 2024

Details to follow

First Friday Club in Youngstown, Ohio
April 4, 2024

April 4, 2024

Details to be determined

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Ut elit tellus, luctus nec ullamcorper mattis, pulvinar dapibus leo.