Cynicism, Sarcasm, Pain, Hurt, teachers, gun control, and.... Jesus

My wife grew up with parents who, on nearly a daily basis, would tell her:
"You know who likes a smart aleck?  No one."

Me?  I grew up (originally) as the youngest of 4 with my older brother being 11 years my elder and my entire family holding PhDs in sarcasm.  
It wasn't, as the joke goes, a second language, it was our first.

Now, a smart aleck is defined by Merriam-Webster is an obnoxiously conceited and self-assertive person full of pretense who delivers their humor in an offensive, obnoxious, or cocky way.  
By that definition, I would have to agree with my wife's parents, however, I think there are people who recognize (and deliver) sarcasm as true humor (defined by the fact that others find it funny - not just the deliverer) making light of situations and making fun of the very pretense of the sarcasm/cynicism they speak of.  Now, I realize that many would disagree with me on that and who fall wholeheartedly in the mindset of my wife's parents, and that's okay, but un/fortunately, sarcasm still falls under my standard ROE.  

--Now that all of that has been said, I can actually Start talking about what this article is really about (relieved?):--

If you enjoy the humor of being sarcastic about cynicism and making fun of the very pretense of the cynical nature, welcome to the club, we have cookies.
If you are trying to perfect the 'art' of true cynicism.... stop.  Now.

Let me explain.  No, there's too much, let me sum up:

There are teachers who every fall joke about
"oh man, here come the kids - AHH!"
haha, yeah, we can all understand that, funny stuff.

Then there are teachers who really mean it.  They go on for weeks about how life as they know it is about to end, how awful IEP meetings are (and they are), how crazy parents are, how terrible kids are, how life is just going to suck until the next break.
You know who thinks that is funny?  You guessed it, no one.  Other teachers are embarrassed, friends are taken aback, parents are horrified.

Similarly, there are parents who joke every fall about
"WOO HOO!!  School starts tomorrow - MOM PARTY!"
and again, that's funny, we get it, haha.
Then, again, there are parents who genuinely talk for weeks about how they can't wait to get rid of these stupid annoying kids and is it time to hand them over to the teachers yet so they can have their life back????

The latter, in each example, thinks they are doing the same thing as the first.  They're not.  You're not.

Here, on a bigger picture, I am pro-gun (goodbye half of my audience ;)
I believe in the Second Amendment, I believe we have a right to defend our homes, our families, our neighbors, ourselves, our places of business, my kids, your kids, etc.
Now, there's been a lot of gun bill jockeying over the last 10 months or so and often times I get annoyed at one person or another and I enjoy funny facebook memes about the ridiculousness of the issue, etc.  But also, I am at risk of (internally) going too far, worrying too much, going to crazy....
ie. moving from that first person to the second.  I don't want that.  Ever.

What in the world does any of this have to do with a Christian blog or Biblical principles?

This is not our home.  We are an exiled people with no place here to call our permanent home.  We are Israel (God's people) wandering in the desert (even if the desert looks a lot like a cushy basement rancher in suburban America).
"Our citizenship is in Heaven" and we "have no city that is our own but seek the city that is to come".
And no matter how bad things get, that's to be expected, for in this world we will all experience tragedy but we can rejoice because He has overcome the world!

Most importantly, this can all be summed up with Romans 8:18 - The sufferings of this world aren't even worth talking about (let alone letting them consume us and control our actions, our outlooks, our attitude, steal our joy, blacken our hope, and create in us true cynics) when compared to the glory that is to come!

So rejoice always - pray continually - and give Thanks in ALL circumstances.  This world is not our home.