As I was listening for sarcasm, I was surprised that I found very little of it. I know it's there, I remember hearing way too much of it in High School, but no matter how much I listened here, I didn't hear very much. Now, this could mean one of three things:
1. People are more mature in college, especially this college, and don't use sarcasm as much. I initially believed this, and though it probably does play a part, I talked to others who were able to hear many examples of sarcasm, even here. So that isn't it.
2. I wasn't listening hard enough. This is also very likely, and plays a part. I haven't been getting out much, so I might not have been in situations where I would hear sarcasm. I could also be hanging out with people who don't use sarcasm, or we might have been in situations where sarcasm wasn't warranted. I don't think this is the main reason, though.
3. I can't hear or understand sarcasm when I do hear it. I think this is at least partly true, if not mostly true. I've had trouble recognizing sarcasm when it is used around me. It caused many uncomfortable situations in high school (you can use your imagination as to how). I don't know if it's a good thing I can't understand sarcasm as easily as others seem to, or if it's going to get me into real trouble someday. It already has gotten me into difficult situations when I used it unknowingly.
The above reason are maybe why the assignment to listen for sarcasm was hard for me. I felt like I wouldn't have anything to write about in this blog. Basically, I take what people say at face-value, and I maybe trust them a little too much. I don't think these are bad things, but there are certain situations where they can be undesirable traits.
So basically, I need to work on reading people.
That isn't what I really want to write this blog on, though. I want to discuss sarcasm in another area of life that may be even worse: our spiritual relationship with God.
As I said above, I don't understand sarcasm, so I looked up "sarcasm" on LDS.org and came up with 66 entries. I didn't have to go very far before I had an epiphany, though, for in the first summary paragraph of the first entry, it said,
"A most damaging form of humor is sarcasm, or cutting, hostile, or contemptuous remarks. Though often meant to be harmless, sarcasm denotes insensitivity to the feelings of others, stemming either from thoughtlessness or maliciousness."
-Peter B Rawlins, New Era, August 1974
The first sentence makes sense, I've heard it every time there's a talk or article about sarcasm. But the second sentence struck a chord within me. "Though often meant to be harmless, sarcasm denotes insensitivity to the feelings of others, stemming either from thoughtlessness or maliciousness." I'll come back to this thought in a minute.
The other thing that helped me get to this epiphany was the song I was listening to when I did my search: I'll Go Where You Want Me To Go. As I thought about the message in this song, and the second half of the definition of sarcasm, it hit me: how many times do we use sarcasm in our prayers, or in our church callings. How many times do we say "I'll do what you want" and think "but it's not what I would do" or "I'll do it my way". Isn't that a form of sarcasm? We say or think a remark meant to be harmless, as a "side note", that in reality hurts someone else's feelings, because they feel that you are being demeaning. In the example, it's God's feelings we are hurting. How do you think He feels when we say we'll do what He wants, but then we turn around and ignore His counsel? I don't think we mean to be malicious to God, but what do we convey to Him in the thoughtless remarks we make in the recesses of our minds?
When we are told to do something, we need to respond sincerely with a "sure, I'll do what you need" instead of a sarcastic "sure, I'll do that, whatever". I think Satan really wants us to slip in thoughtless remarks to God to hurt our relationship with Him. Isn't that Satan's ultimate goal: separate us from our Father? What better way than to get us to do it ourselves?
So, what's the cure to this? I believe that it just takes practice. We must practice praying in order to understand God's will, and not try to force our will on Him, and then we must practice recognizing and acting on the suggestions/instructions God sends us. Honestly, how many times have the prophet and apostles told us this same principle in the last three years? Even within the past two weeks, we've heard it at least three times from three different apostles.
I challenge each of us, myself included, to stop using sarcasm in our relationships, especially our relationship with God. Just ask, is Eternal Life worth a sarcastic remark?
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