Learning from the Comics Page

I always try to look at the Comics page in each morning's newspaper. More often than not, the jokes in comic strips are groaners. The soap opera strips don't interest me much so I just pass them over without reading them. Every once in a while, though, a comic has either a gag that makes me laugh out loud or one of those startlingly clear moments when I think, "How true that is!"

The long-running Family Circus often teaches some gentle but important lessons in its little circle on the page. Take the April 24 version, for instance. Dolly and one of her brothers are sitting at a table with coloring books open before them. Grandma is holding a box of crayons as she says, "Crayons can teach us a good lesson . . . they're different colors, have strange names, but all learn to live together in the same box." That doesn't need much commentary since it's point is obvious and needed because we humans have a long way to go before we learn that lesson.

On the same Comics page yesterday, I burst out laughing when I read Non Sequitur. This is a new strip to me since I moved to the Northwest. As far as I can tell it doesn't have any regular characters, but just offers a one-shot gag each day.

Yesterday's strip showed a street corner scene in front of the Metropolis Cafe. A policeman is writing a ticket to give to Superman. A nearby sign declares: "WARNING: LAWS OF PHYSICS STRICTLY ENFORCED." Who does Superman think he is anyway flying faster than a speeding bullet? Doesn't he know that is a violation of the laws of physics? Maybe you need a weird sense of humor (which I have) to enjoy that, but I thought it was hilarious.

It also teaches us an important spiritual lesson if we draw the application. The world is filled with people who, spiritually speaking, think they are Superman. That is, they don't seem to understand that God's laws apply to them. And God's laws will also be strictly enforced on Judgment Day. We will all give account of ourselves to God (Romans 14:12). We will all appear before the judgment seat of Christ (2 Corinthians 5:10). People who deny that inevitable spiritual reality will find that on that Day their "super powers" have abandoned them. When it is too late, every knee will bow at the name of Jesus and every tongue will confess that He is Lord (Philippians 2:10-11).

The notion of Superman being ticketed for breaking the laws of physics might be funny, but meeting the Lord in judgment will be no laughing matter for those who have gone through life thinking that God's rules don't apply to them.