What did the fish say when he swam into the wall?

"Dam."

The United States is now considered the last true super-power in the world. On this 4th of July celebration I've been contemplating the components of the USA's might. Military, economic, diplomatic, natural resources, invention and innovationall of these are undeniable parts of the powerful whole. But the list goes on and on and on from there. There are so many different pieces to the country's combined strength.

I think one vital part of our nation's collective might is a healthy sense of humor. There is untold power in the ability to laugh, to see the humor, to find the irony, to relish the punch line. I think Americans have the need to get the joke. There is some kind of strength, some kind of energy in the humor of it all.

I showed an apartment to some prospective buyers the other day. The apartment was a loft space and it had a den with no windows. When we stepped into the room and turned on the light the space seemed to glow, and grow.

It turned out that the room was painted many colors of the same yellow spectrum. The darkest corner of the room, the corner opposite the entry, was painted with the deepest yellow. From that spot the yellow faded every so lightly, more and more, until the hue was its faintest at the farthest

The spectrum of that color gave a dark space a radiance. I think that humor falls into that color chart spectrum that contains joy and happiness. All of those colors fall into the color palate that somehow makes up strength.

Humor lets folks breathe. Laughter energizes.

The best speech I ever delivered happened because someone stopped me just before I was about to step to the podium. I was sporting a new suit jacket feeling pretty spiffy if I do say so. Well, it turned out I was also still sporting the price tag on the suit.

The humor of that moment was like a sudden burst of oxygen. It propelled me. Of course I shared the joke with the audience and it filled the room with an immediacy of humor and energy. A family friend, we'll call her Midge, has a favorite story she tells about herself. Depending on her audience she can reduce folks to side-splitting tears over a seemingly simple event. Midge arrived early to the wedding ceremony of her friend and therefore she wound up seated in the very front of the church. Since she was early, there was time for Midge to adjourn to the ladies room. However, the sanctuary had filled up by the time she made her way back down the center aisle to her seat.

Shortly after settling in to her seat, Midge felt the firm tap of a finger on her shoulder. A stern looking nun sought Midge's attention. The woman leaned over and whispered a vital piece of information into Midge's ear.

It seems that after exiting the ladies room, a long piece of toilet tissue had remained stuck to Midge, fluttering in the back of her waist band and giving the appearance of a tail.

When telling the story, Midge looks heavenward when she describes asking the Lord to take her, right then and there.

Maybe, because we have so much space in this country, maybe there's room for the humor, there's space for the punch line to fill.

I don't pretend to have much insight into this matter. I just know that one of our nation's strengths is that we get the joke, that we have room to laugh.

It's one of our finest qualities, even if I do say so myself.