If you’ve been reading these meditations for a while, you know that once I grab onto a theme, I continue it until its “logical” conclusion. When this week started, I opened by mentioning that while I was working on church “stuff” on Sunday afternoon/evening, I was watching classic TV shows. There were several episodes of MASH.
MASH, to me, was a different kind of show. I’m still not sure I ever was a fan. It wasn’t meant to be comfortable, which made sense given the setting … and yet, it used a laugh track. The characters became predictable, which I suppose is inevitable with longer-running shows. As Hollywood shows can do, after a few years, I think it took itself too seriously.
All that aside, however, when it was at its best, MASH showed us the strength of friendships forged in difficult times. MASH also illustrated how sometimes humor, whether among friends or directed at circumstances we can’t control, isn’t about entertainment; it’s a matter of survival.
They joked because the alternative was despair. They laughed to deal with grief. They used comedy when the truth of their reality was too hard to deal with straight on. And there’s truth in that. Laughter can live alongside sorrow, and the amazing thing is that laughter doesn’t make suffering smaller. It makes us human. It’s a gift from God.
The Bible never denies human pain. It names it. Faith doesn’t require pretending things are fine. Often, faith is simply refusing to let suffering have the final word.
Sometimes faith isn’t tidy. It’s messy. It’s faith under pressure. It’s faith that tells the truth and doesn’t try to fake it. Faith laughs—not because everything’s okay, but because love is still worth choosing.
Poetically, Psalm 56:8 describes how God keeps count of our nights of tossing and gathers our tears and keeps them in a bottle. I don’t think God literally does that, of course, but the psalmist is telling us that our sleepless nights and times of tears matter to God.
God isn’t offended by our laughter in dark places. God meets us there. God invites us to the truth, without pretending and trusting that grace can handle it. And God promises that in its time, all sorrow and pain will be turned to laughter.
Prayer: God who meets me in the mess, thank you for laughter that keeps me human. When the world feels unbearable, hold me when humor is all I have left. Be with all who suffer today, and bring your peace, comfort, and joy. Amen.
