Have you ever smiled in secret and in loving adoration towards God after receiving a divine response to a whimsical prayer request?  Well, I have.  I have even gone as far as whispering to God these words…”Lord, you’re funny.  You really do have a sense of humor.

Some years ago, as a member of a speaker’s bureau class at the public library, our assignment was to compose a five minute recitation on heavenly humor and present it at our next meeting.  For my contribution I chose to write on 2 very common superstitions.  Of course, I partitioned God for his approval and he gave me a PG rating.  So feel free to recite the following story at your next church supper. God really does allow a little clean humor every now and then.

	SUPERSTITIONS AND THERE ORIGINS   It is amazing how many of our superstitious ways revolve around death, hell and the grave.  Take for example:   ‘The Yawn Reflex’   Today, we believe that it shows good manners to cover your mouth and to say excuse me after a broad and noisy yawn. Well, originally, good manners had nothing to do with it.  In the ancient days, it was believed that the Devil made a person yawn so that he could gain access into the body and cause that person grave danger.     If that person is observed yawning he would say excuse me because he knew that yawning was contagious and would cause the second person to yawn,too.Thus putting that person in grave danger.   So the first yawner would say ‘excuse me’ for putting you in danger. The Hindu people would snap their fingers three times to counter the Devil’s antics.   The Medical doctors today tell us that yawning can be due to sleepiness, exhaustion, shallow breathing or observation. Also, one of the first exercises that a new born baby performs is to stretch and yawn after its body breathes in fresh air.   Medical scientists believe that there is a yawn center in the brain that is activated by our lungs and under certain conditions cause us to yawn.   ‘Now Take Sneezing’   How many “Gesundheits” does a person get after sneezing? And do you know what it means? Well, it means, “God bless you.”   The custom of asking God’s blessing initiated with early man who believed that the spirit resided in the air and since we breathe air into our heads, it stands to reason that the spirit resided in the head.   A sneeze would accidentally expel the spirit. So a person would ask God to put it back. The act of bowing towards the sneezer was also counter-magic. For it meant, “May your soul not escape.”    Now imagine being in a room filled with sneezers and yawners. This combination of guests could be fatal.   Don’t forget, a yawn gave the Devil access into the body and a sneeze could expel your good spirit. Thus leaving your body defenseless.   The spirit of the Devil would be exposed out into the room trying to gain entrance into someone else; Gesundheits being shouted aloud from across the room; some guests bobbing up and down towards the sneezer; and the yawners approaching others and saying I’m sorry, I’m sorry for infecting you.   [What a hilarious scene from an Austin Powers movie!]   (At the close of your presentation, you could leave the stage with a big yawn, cover your mouth and say excuse me. Next, give out a loud sneeze. After the audience responds with ‘Gesundheits’ say…Oh, well.)
	Always remember Isaiah 8:19-20…When they say to you, “Consult the mediums and the spiritists who whisper and mutter,” should not a people consult their God? Should they consult the dead on behalf of the living? To the law and to the testimony! If they do not speak according to this word, it is because they have no dawn.

Scripture Lesson:  Isaiah 44:24-25  Thus says the LORD, your Redeemer, and the one who formed you from the womb: “I, the LORD, am the Maker of all things; stretching out the heavens by Myself and spreading out the earth all alone; causing the omens of boasters to fail; making fools out of diviners; causing wise men to draw back and turning their knowledge into foolishness.

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