Laughter and Joy During Lent
By Valerie DeBenedette
The Psalm and the reading from Isaiah for today are full of joy and laughter, and of safety. Good news in the usually gloomy season of Lent.
When the fortunes of Zion are restored, the Psalm says that the people felt like they were in a dream. Their mouths were full of laughter, and they were shouting with joy because the Lord had done great things for them. The writer of the Psalm talks about a restoration of fortunes by comparing it to the return of water to the watercourses, the beds of the streams in the Negev Desert. The people had water, an important life-giving element in the Middle East or in any desert area.
The streams in the Negeb Desert flow during the rainy season, which is winter. They are dry at other times. Suddenly, the watercourses that have been dry since last year (or maybe for even longer) are flowing with water. If you think of deserts as being dreary places with desiccated plants and little growth, the water brings growth and plants blossom. Everything that was bleak or dry has revived and the fortunes of the people have been restored.
The return of water is one of the great things that the Lord has done for the people of the land and they ask him to restore their fortunes just like the watercourses in the desert have been restored. Such a restoration—or reversal of fortune—brings joy. Those who sow with tears will reap with shouts of joy and those who weep as they go out carrying the seeds for planting come joyfully home with the sheaves of their harvest. The water brings joy and laughter as the Lord sees to the needs of the people.
Safety is another need for everyone, and Isaiah speaks of this. In his writing, water is not the sweet necessity of life but is the danger of flooding or the raging river. Western North Carolina found this out the hard way. But in this reading, God promises to be with us in the dangerous waters of floods. That he will be with us in the waters and that the rivers will not overwhelm us.
Isaiah says that God will not let us be burned or consumed by fire either, a comforting thought as wildfires are active right now through North Carolina and other states. We will be safe.
But why, Isaiah? Because God has redeemed us (a foreshadowing of the redemption given by Jesus Christ) and knows us by name. We should not fear because we are God’s people. Yet we forget that again and again, and we lose ourselves in fear and distrust for the present and for the future.
We must remember that God holds us safe and that our mouths should be filled with laughter and shouts of joy when our fortunes are restored. This is true even in Lent, the season where we are supposed to be serious and solemn. Laughter is usually not on the menu during Lent, but it might be wise to remember what writer Anne Lamott said: “Laughter is carbonated holiness.”
So, fill your mouth with carbonated holiness and joy.
