Reflection
I’m sure you’ve had this experience: You’re standing with a group of people and someone makes a joke at the expense of someone else. Maybe you all were unaware of their presence or perhaps the joke landed harshly, so someone quickly says, “We weren’t laughing at you. We were laughing with you.”
But God could be funny
At a cocktail party while listening to
A good god-themed jokeWe're all laughing with God
There’s a strange verse in Ecclesiastes that says, “Better to go to the house of mourning than the house of feasting.” At first glance, this seems utterly backwards. How is a funeral better than a wedding? How is grief better than happiness? Avoiding any masochistic intonations, the reality is that times of suffering and difficulty bring into focus what is most important. The house of mourning forces us to acknowledge what truly matters in a way that the house of feasting cannot. More than that, the house of mourning reminds us of our need for God. It’s easy to minimize our need for God at a cocktail party. It’s easy to make jokes when life is semi-charmed.
But when the cancer diagnosis comes? When your kids are unaccounted for? In those moments, we know we need God. We’re desperate for anything solid to grab hold of.
The truth is, some of our portrayals of God make God into a laughing stock. The idea of a sovereign creator who has little more agency than a summoned genie is laughable. Reducing God to a karmic financial advisor who gives you a large return on on your ‘seed’ money is a joke. Making prayer into little more than hocus locus is silly. And yet, in the mostly good times, that’s the God we fall back to. It’s only when the darkness surrounds us that we want God to do the one thing God promises us that God will do: save us.
Links
Lyrics
No one laughs at God in a hospital
No one laughs at God in a war
No one's laughing at God
When they're starving or freezing
Or so very poor
No one laughs at God when the doctor calls
After some routine tests
No one's laughing at God
When it's gotten real late
Their kid's not back from that party yet
No one laughs at God when their airplane
Starts to uncontrollably shake
No one's laughing at God
When they see the one they love
Hand in hand with someone else
And they hope that they're mistaken
No one laughs at God
When the cops knock on their door
And they say "We got some bad news, sir"
No one's laughing at God
When there's a famine, fire, or a flood...
But God could be funny
At a cocktail party while listening to
A good god-themed joke
Or when the crazies say he hates us
And they get so red in
The head you'd think they're about to choke
God could be funny
When told he'll give you money
If you just pray the right way
And when presented like a genie
Who does magic like Houdini
Or grants wishes like Jiminy Cricket
And Santa Claus
God could be so hilarious
Ha-ha
Ha-ha
No one laughs at God in a hospital
No one laughs at God in a war
No one's laughing at God
When they've lost all they got
And they don't know what for
No one laughs at God on the day they realize
That the last sight they'll ever see
Is a pair of hateful eyes
No one's laughing at God
When they're saying their goodbyes
But God could be funny
At a cocktail party while listening to
A good god-themed joke
Or when the crazies say he hates us
And they get so red in
The head you'd think they're about to choke
God could be funny
When told he'll give you money
If you just pray the right way
And when presented like a genie
Who does magic like Houdini
Or grants wishes like Jiminy Cricket
And Santa Claus
God could be so hilarious
No one laughs at God in a hospital
No one laughs at God in a war
No one laughs at God in a hospital
No one's laughing at God in a war
No one's laughing at God in a hospital
No one laughs at God in a war
No one's laughing at God
When they're starving or freezing
Or so very poor
No one's laughing at God
No one's laughing at God
No one's laughing at God
We're all laughing with God
I don’t know about this one Nate. Not working for me. But I’m thinking on it. Thanks again for this Lenten song journey.