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Isaiah 32:6

“For the fool speaks folly, his mind is busy with evil:  He practices ungodliness and spreads error concerning the LORD; the hungry he leaves empty and from the thirsty he withholds water.”

You Clown…..

          I don’t recall the first time I acted silly but in one family picture at Christmas during my youth I am caught by the camera making a funny face and pointing my finger at whoever took the photo.  All the other brothers and sisters in the picture are looking well…normal.  Being a clown may seem easy but it is hard work.  Being a clown sometimes has its advantages.  I’ll explain later.

          We grew up in a time when clowns were more prevalent.  Besides Bozo the Clown, Corky the Clown and that hamburger clown of the golden arches fame, my earliest and easiest appreciation for clowns came from Red Skelton when he portrayed Clem Kadiddlehopper.  Red was so funny.  Laughing at him was a favorite pastime of many in the Politte household especially Dad.  Looking back to that time long ago, today it’s easy to understand how important it was to laugh at something.  Anything.  Red Skelton provided many opportunities for others to escape the daily struggles of their life and have a good laugh at his expense.  It has been said and proven on occasion that laughter is indeed the best medicine!

          There is a little bit of clown in all of us especially in my family, some more than others especially my brother Russell.  I think my being a clown is why Kathy married me.  I’m good for a laugh or two.  We’ll leave it at that.  I actually have a goal of sorts; that each day I’m going to bring a smile to someone’s face.  There’s another word for clown, it is fool.  Who doesn’t like to fool around at times and play practical jokes on others?  “Gotcha, April Fools!”

          Here’s the hard work part.  Clowns don’t pull practical jokes to fool others.  They do it to look foolish themselves, to get that well deserved laugh or at least a smile from the hardest of hearts.  Not everyone sees clowns as funny.  Some see them as downright foolish.  Let’s face it, no one wants to be laughed at or mocked.  It hurts.  No one wants to be called out and made fun of.  No one except a clown.  I am a clown.  There, I admitted it.  Now you know.  I have pictures to prove it.

          In my early twenties I belonged to a clown club.  We’d perform at parades and festivals and an occasional party.  We went to clown training and I even attended a clown convention!  Full costume!  Hey, I’m being serious here, stay with me.  The significance of putting on the makeup, covering up your identity and transforming yourself into a character is critical to being a first-class clown.  Your performance comes from the heart.  A clown has to hide behind the mask and makeup, big nose and floppy shoes and silly looking outfit.  It requires a sense of dying to oneself and putting on a new identity.  Most clowns don’t talk but reveal themselves through the motions of their hands and facial expressions and their eyes.  But most importantly they are revealing what’s in their heart.

          Red Skelton had a reason for his clowning.  His dad was a clown with a traveling circus and died shortly before Red was born.  Red had it in his blood to become a clown and I can only imagine the many images he seen of his father were those with him covered in makeup.  Red chose to make people laugh too being bitten by the show business bug himself at age ten and performing full time by age fifteen.  For most of his life he was a clown, a fool.  But he couldn’t hide or mask what was in his heart.

          There’s an old song titled “Kathy’s Clown”.  I’m hers!  Who’s yours?  Who can bring a smile to your sometimes sullen face?  Who can light up even the darkest room and bring life to the party when it seems there is nothing to cheer about?  Who can help you escape from your worries each day even if it is for just a brief moment?  Who do you know that is willing to be laughed at?  I admit I need to laugh.  I need someone to make me smile.

          Christ was called a clown.  Think about that.  Think about how he was mocked and laughed at.  Go back and read the testimony of his crucifixion but don’t stop at the cross, read further about his resurrection.  Who’s the clown now?

Peace.

© Dave

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dpolitte57@gmail.com

 

 

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