"Laughter or Tears?"
By Rev. Liz Miller
 
What is the meaning of Lent in Liturgy and life?  When we think of Lent, we think of penance, sacrifice, fasting, abstinence, and giving up something. During Lent, do we look gloomy, or is there laughter? Wow! Laughter during Lent. What a concept. How does laughter relate to Lent's tears? Is Lent for laughing or crying? Did Jesus ever really smile?
 
In the Gospel, they said that he cried, but there were no reports of his smiling. I see Jesus having all the emotions of the people he serves and the people he loves. Yes, he wept in sorrow, but he also laughed for joy.  When he held a child in his arms at Cana, it was a joyous occasion when the good wine was served, and when he saw Zaccheus up a tree, that must have been a sight. When Jaures’s daughter was awakened at his touch, did he smile when Peter put his foot in his mouth again?  One of the Gospel videos we have showed Jesus laughing and dancing when the blind man was healed. How can one not smile at times like this?  Are we so aware of Jesus' divinity that we have forgotten about his humanity?
 
There are moments when we cannot smile. Gethsemane was not a laughing matter, and there are times when it is painful.
 
Is Lent for laughing or crying? I would say both. We need to remember we are risen Christians. Jesus is risen, and we have risen with him into a new life. During these weeks, we relive the stages of our Lord’s pilgrimage toward Jerusalem, his way to the cross. The cross of victory, not defeat.
 
We have been raised but have not yet fully risen. We symbolically reproduce Jesus' journey to Jerusalem. We walk the journey with him. We feel the pain. We wonder how this could have happened, yet we know Easter is around the corner, and the pain will turn into joy. We smile and pray through tears with Jesus, “Father, remove this cup from me.”
 
We are entering a time for repentance. The gospel says to repent. Because of our sinful nature, we need constant conversion. There have been times I have said in prayer, take my free will from me, Lord; it would be so much easier because, by my very nature, I am prone to sin. I have tried to be perfect, but it is impossible. I then realized I needed to offer my imperfect self to God and let him do the work in me.  We are all wonderfully made, but we are a bundle of contradictions. We doubt, hope, despair, love, and hate. We are excited and bored, enchanted and disillusioned. We are cool on the outside and hurt within. Sometimes, we feel bad about feeling good, are afraid of our joy, and feel guilty if we don’t feel guilty. We are trusting and suspicious, selfless, and selfish.
 
When I cross your forehead with ashes, I will say, “Remember you are dust, and into dust, you shall return.” What a somber realization. And yet, in next Sunday's Liturgy, the preface begins with the words: “All-powerful and ever-living God… each year you give us this joyful season, and so Lent is both sorrow and joy; tears and laughter.” The symbol of dust is pretty grim, but when I dust your forehead, I dust it with another symbol: the sign of the cross that declares that dust has been redeemed. Death is not the end of our dust. The cross is indeed a sign, and Christ’s Spirit dwells within each of us.
 
We will smile when we realize how much God loves us. We are so very lovable, not because of anything we have done or made of ourselves but because God loves each of us. God died for us, and God lives in us now.
 
We need to be real. Let people see the real you. Maybe, not far from you, someone is afraid and needs your courage, someone is lonely and needs your presence, or someone is hurt and needs your healing. So many feel unloved and need your touching; they are old and need to feel that you care. Many are weak in many ways and need support for their shared weaknesses. You will rarely know greater happiness than when your smile is born on the face of someone in pain; you will have given birth to a smiling Christ.
 
This Lent, let us overcome fear and death right now by bringing the smiling Christ, the joy of Jesus, to one man, woman, or child…who knows. It might be your own healing, your own salvation.
 
Yes, Lent is for tears and laughter, dying and rising. It is a journey that mingles gladness and sadness, satisfaction and frustration, high hopes and sometimes despair. Remember that you walk that dusty journey with Jesus as risen Christians. From the waters of your baptism, the life of the risen Christ has been flowing through your bloodstream. You are alive. Allow yourself to feel that life within you and live it. Come alive in Christ. Laughter and tears are both life-giving. Come, let’s walk this journey together.