Lent and Laughter — an immediate incongruity. Lent and Austerity, yes. Lent and Laughter, surely not. With the new life that came at Christmas now far behind, we brace ourselves from Ash Wednesday to Easter as the price to be paid to enter into the fulfilment of that life on Easter Day. Everybody celebrates Christmas. Only seasoned churchgoers spend six weeks preparing for Holy Week, and when it comes the scripture passages are so familiar it can sometimes take an effort to feel the freshness they merit. But in a typically austere Lent might there be something missing?
Lenten Laughter is not light entertainment or jazzing up traditional Services. It is a serious attempt to explore laughter alongside austerity, introducing elements of life which austerity fails to address. It can alleviate or accentuate pain and darkness, just as the best comedy can serve as a distraction while revealing and enabling us to stay with the harshness of reality.
Bell and Maule's song, 'In a byre near Bethlehem', sees laughter as a key component of 'health and love', a gift from Jesus 'for the good of us all' — Gethsemane, Calvary and in a garden, every bit as much as Bethlehem and Galilee. In that spirit we take a fresh look at those familiar Lenten texts. On the completion of creation which laid the very foundations for 'health, love and laughter', the Authorised Version cooly records that God saw that 'it was very good'. With less restraint, Trevor Dennis wonders whether chaos might even have been 'shaken into order by the gale of God's laughter'.
Starting from here we set off in search of light in the darkness and when the penny drops (and only then) can we enjoy that good hearty laugh. A jerk reaction to the surprise element maybe, but also a slapping of our wrists for what had always been there but never really noticed.
Three symbols may provide a focus. A few spring flowers for days 1-3, not as decoration but as an entree to the texts. Touch them, caress them, sniff their fragrance. Of course they are not the same as in Palestine 2000 years ago, but spring flowers everywhere are a sign of new life and hope for a new day. A few dry twigs (the roughest you can find) for day 4. Resist the temptation to turn them into a cross to be observed. As you read and pray, fumble them as if agitated or clutching at straws. If you feel a prick, get a splinter or maybe a drop of blood, instead of rushing for a plaster give it space at least for a time. An Easter Egg with no Filling for days 5-6. What to do with this comes later.