{"id":5350,"date":"2026-04-08T08:39:28","date_gmt":"2026-04-08T12:39:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/?p=5350"},"modified":"2026-04-08T08:39:28","modified_gmt":"2026-04-08T12:39:28","slug":"ironically-speaking","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/2026\/04\/08\/ironically-speaking\/","title":{"rendered":"Ironically Speaking"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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To listen to today’s reflection as a podcast,<\/em>\u00a0click here<\/a>
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Why is this picture such a hoot?
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It\u2019s a wonderful example of irony.
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Irony is a form of humor that\u2019s somewhat hard to define. Technically, it\u2019s \u201ca contradiction between what a statement or situation is supposed to represent, and what it actually is.\u201d
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Most of us know it when we see it.\u00a0
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For instance, when a family member shrieks, \u201cI\u2019m not upset!\u201d it\u2019s really hard not to smile. When a traffic cop\u2019s car is towed away because of unpaid parking tickets, something inside us wants to laugh, \u201cThat\u2019s perfect!\u201d
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Does God have a sense of humor?
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G.K. Chesterton thought so.\u00a0The early 20th<\/sup> century British theologian and literary critic described God as the happiest being in the universe.
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That might explain the wonderful ironies that abound on the pages of Scripture.
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For instance, the humblest people in the world will end up in the brightest spotlight (James 4:10).\u00a0
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Who saw that coming?
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The apostle Paul out and out says that when he\u2019s at his weakest, that\u2019s when he\u2019s actually the strongest (2 Corinthians 12:10).
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You\u2019re not likely to hear that from contemporary athletes, politicians, and business leaders.
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\u201cIt\u2019s more blessed to give than to receive\u201d (Acts 20:35).\u00a0In other words, you get the most by giving away the most.\u00a0
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Seriously?
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Joseph\u2019s brothers callously sell him into slavery, which allows him to ascend to a position of prominence in Egypt at the very time they most need his help. \u201cYou meant it for evil, but God meant it for good\u201d (Genesis 50:20). You tried to wipe me out but ended up saving yourselves in the process.
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Now, that\u2019s ironic.
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Crucifixion represented Rome at its worst. Somehow, it ended up spotlighting God at his best. The execution that was meant to quash the rival kingdom of the Jesus Movement actually accomplished its primary goal \u2013 allowing God the Son to die for the sins of both Rome and Jesus\u2019 own followers.
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Jesus\u2019 teaching in the gospels overflows with ironies.
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We find everything we\u2019re looking for by losing everything we have (Matthew 10:39).\u00a0
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The only way to really live is to boldly choose to die (John 12:24).
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The first shall be last and the last shall be first.\u00a0Children enter the kingdom before adults. Up is down and down is up.
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And as Paul points out, \u201creligious\u201d people try to do everything they can to earn their way to heaven, even while God insists on giving away life\u2019s best gifts for free (Ephesians 2:8-9).
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When we take such ironies to heart, something inside us wants to laugh, \u201cThat\u2019s perfect!\u201d
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No wonder God is the happiest being in the universe.


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To listen to today’s reflection as a podcast,\u00a0click here\u00a0Why is this picture such a hoot?\u00a0It\u2019s a wonderful example of irony.\u00a0Irony is a form of humor that\u2019s somewhat hard to define. Technically, it\u2019s \u201ca contradiction between what a statement or situation is supposed to represent, and what it actually is.\u201d\u00a0Most of us know it when we see it.\u00a0\u00a0For instance, when a… Read more »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":5351,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[1096],"class_list":["post-5350","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-irony"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5350","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5350"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5350\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5352,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5350\/revisions\/5352"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5351"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5350"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5350"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5350"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}