“Teach us to number our days aright.” – Psalm 90:12
Art Linkletter, the late comedian, for many years hosted a TV game show called People Are Funny. It was so long ago I don’t remember much about the show’s content except that the show’s title pretty well described the main theme of Art Linkletter’s humor, that people are funny. He had a unique gift for observing the funny things that people do and say, and a style of presenting those observations in hilarious ways that were neither belittling nor embarrassing, yet made us laugh not only at other people but at ourselves. He put smiles on our faces because he loved people and found humor in the crazy things we say and do, which for him is what made life fun and exciting, and positive, and in turn inspired his audiences to feel that way too.
I had not thought of Art Linkletter in years until recently when my cousin and dear friend Jimmy passed away, and as I had the opportunity to be around family and close friends at his memorial service it occurred to me as we all shared stories about him that the central theme of his life was similar in that he too loved people and found humor in the crazy things we say and do. Every conversation I ever had with Jimmy, which were fairly frequent, was laced with laughter, mostly swapping funny stories about our experiences with some of the characters we knew from the respective small towns where we grew up. And like Art Linkletter, Jimmy never belittled people in talking about their shenanigans, just that the stories were amusing – and generally speaking, that people are funny.
“The length of our days is seventy years – or eighty, if we have the strength,” Moses wrote in his Psalm. So, I suppose we can’t argue that Jimmy did not have a long, full life. Yet, for those of us who knew and loved him it still seems too short. Jimmy, though, was not naïve about the length of life, realizing that it is short and that we must use our time wisely and for good purposes. That is what inspired him to live the way he did, loving God and people, with a big heart and sense of humor, laughing at life in a healthy way, yet with great compassion and generosity toward others.
As Moses also wrote in his Psalm: “Teach us to number our days aright, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.” Thank you Cousin Jimmy for reminding us of the importance of numbering our days, and for being an example of how to live an abundant life.