A Time to Weep, A Time to Laugh

We’ve covered a lot of ground in our study of Ecclesiastes 3. From birth and harvest to killing and building. As we continue with verse 4, we are told there is a time to weep, and a time to laugh.

What first comes to mind when you hear that contrast?

I don’t typically leap from weeping to laughing. If I’m sad enough to cry, then I’m not finding much humor in anything. The Hebrew word translated ‘weep’ is deep sorrow. It is bemoaning something, such as a death. The word for laugh can also be translated as ‘to play’. So, in this phrase deep lamentation and child-like joy and play are put in juxtaposition.

Looking to God is a good way to keep from being sucked into a cycle of depression when there is a lot to make us want to weep. The Bishop of the Diocese of the Rio Grande has suggested that balancing news watching with at least as much time spent reading the Bible is one way to combat this. There are many uplifting passages in the Bible. There are also those that affirm that weeping and laughing are normal parts of the human condition.

Psalm 30 reminds us that God can bring joy out of what seems to be only sorrow. It begins by stating, O Lord my God, I cried to you for help. Then goes on to call for praises to the Lord…[because] Weeping may linger for the night, but joy comes with the morning. The Psalm ends by proclaiming, you have taken off my sackcloth and clothed me with joy, so that my soul may praise you and not be silent.

In the Beatitudes, Jesus promises Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh. He also warns woe to you who are laughing now, for you will mourn and weep. (Luke 6:21-25) Joy and sorrow are two sides of the same coin. We wouldn’t know joy if there was never any sorrow, nor would we know sorrow if we were not sometimes joyful.

Certainly, there are things that can make us sorrowful now. Loudly expressed rage and hatred spew across our TV and computer screens. We are just entering into the time when we’ll be assaulted by hateful political ads. We are confronted by our own fears and needs as we remain mostly staying at home. We may want to rage and scream, and yes weep, at the unfairness of COVID19. We may want to bemoan the societal inequities that the pandemic has brought into stark view. Maybe we want it all to just ‘go away’ so life can be ‘normal’ again, even as we know that normal will never be quite the same.

If we just look at the world via the news, we might find ourselves in a state of constantly weeping. However, if like Mr. Rogers, we “look for the helpers” we might find things to smile and even laugh about. We hear of children who raise money to buy masks for first responders, of farmers who donate their crops to food pantries, of men, women, and young people reaching out to help those stuck at home by bringing groceries or mowing lawns. We listen to virtual choirs and watch videos of talking dogs or cats drinking cream during Morning Prayer. 

We read the Bible and call each other. We reach out in love and seek common ground rather than division. We remember ‘we are all in this together’. It’s not a USA problem, it’s international. It’s not about being forced to wear a mask it’s about caring enough to wear a mask. It’s not about whether there are good cops, it’s about stopping unnecessary force by any law enforcement. It’s not one sided, it’s humanity sided.

This week, take time to pray about some of the things that make you weep.

Find time to laugh at crazy cat videos or funny stories.

Try balancing your news obsession with Bible reading and prayer. One opportunity is to spend an hour with me for the next 7 Fridays studying my latest book: The Lord’s Prayer: Walk in Love. Email Cindy to get the Zoom link to participate live, or follow via on Facebook.

Septuagesima and an Unclean Spirit

After looking at the epiphanies in the lives of nearly half the disciples, we turn to 3 of Jesus’ healing miracles in these last 3 weeks leading up to Lent. Some churches follow the ancient tradition of calling this Sunday Septuagesima. That simply means we are about 70 days before Easter. Next Sunday will be Sexagesima (60 days pre-Easter) and the last Sunday of the season of Epiphany is Quinquagesima (you guessed it, 50 days before Easter)

The Old Testament lesson (Deuteronomy 18:15-20) finds Moses telling the people of Israel that “the Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet….” Psalm 111 is one of the songs that praise the Lord for God’s works and mercy, God’s laws and redemption, ending with the familiar line “the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.” In 1 Corinthians 8:1b-13 we hear Paul telling the people in Corinth that there is “one God, the Father” in direct opposition to the multiple gods of the majority of the people in the Roman Empire. In all the lessons, we are called to recognize that God is active among us at all times.

We are going to look most deeply at what happened in Capernaum as found in Mark 1:21-28. “They went to Capernaum; and when the Sabbath came, he entered the synagogue and taught. They were astounded at his teaching, for he taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes. Just then there was in their synagogue a man with an unclean spirit, and he cried out, ‘What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are, the Holy One of God.’ But Jesus rebuked him, saying, ‘Be silent, and come out of him!’ And the unclean spirit, throwing him into convulsions and crying with a loud voice, came out of him. They were all amazed, and they kept on asking one another, ‘What is this? A new teaching—with authority! He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey him.’ At once his fame began to spread throughout the surrounding region of Galilee.”

Note that Jesus teaches as ‘one having authority’. In this we hear fulfillment of Moses’ promise of a prophet and ‘I will put my words in his mouth.’ (Deuteronomy 18:18) The unclean spirit recognizes the authority and acknowledges “I know who you are, the Holy One of God”. Just as Paul reminds the Corinthians that there is One God, the unclean spirit also understands this truth.

The people in Capernaum are amazed when Jesus commands the spirit to ‘come out of him’ They turn to each other and exclaim ‘He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey him.’ First hand and unexpectedly, they are seeing the mighty works of the Lord who was previously known more through the old stories and the words of Psalms than in their experience! This was an astonishing epiphany for the men and women in this fishing village. How could this rabbi heal a man who was ill and unclean? Surely this must be the work of God. It is the Bible come to life in front of them.
In fact, the Bible comes to life for us every day. We are not always aware of it, though, because we aren't paying attention.

On January 27, the High Calling meditation noted, “In Jesus’ day everybody knew that the scribes and Pharisees took the scripture more seriously than anyone else. The problem was that many of them saw the Bible as just a book. They didn’t know it was the Living Word of God. And Jesus is the Living Word made flesh… Every element of human life is transformed for the better by the Bible—if we will but read it! But will we read the Bible? We intend to. We make our vows; we turn pages on the calendar and say “Tomorrow is the day I begin.” And then life interrupts. If you want to hear Jesus’ voice, experience his presence, witness his miracles, know his love, and take part in his life-transforming life and ministry, open the Bible—and begin to read.”

Where are we hesitant to see the works of God around us? Is the Bible more like a series of good old stories than the living Word of God? Has there been an epiphany in your life where you say the work of God clearly? Like the healed man and the men and women in Capernaum, we can meet and experience the presence of God in the words of the Bible, and in our daily lives.

Next week we'll see Jesus at work again, healing Simon's mother-in-law.