Grateful for Laughter

Even in laughter the heart may ache, and the end of joy may be grief. Proverbs 14:33

I have found during the challenging times of this novel coronavirus that I need more opportunities for comic relief. This could be a silly joke (I love those!), or a quarantine parody on You Tube, a little time with a cheesy mystery or 30 minutes with a familiar sitcom. It feels odd to seek out a laugh during this time, but honestly, after a long day dealing with serious and truly life altering issues, when I get home I need a little break.  

I know that I am lucky.  Even in the moments when I am tired and frustrated I am glad to be able to work, while so many are without jobs or are working limited hours, or earning limited wages I have had a work commitment every day for the last few months. When I haven’t worked from the hospital, I have worked from home. I have done this with the disruption of two basset hounds who believe that their needs should be placed above all others, but again, I am lucky, I am not trying to juggle work with home schooling. My husband has been home all but one week of the outbreak and this too is lucky, I have not had to spend endless hours worrying about him becoming infected.

Recently, talking to a friend we confessed the things that we are missing and the experiences we long for. We are grieving and aching for our normal lives back, and we have no timeline, and no clear indication of when that will be. We talked about how people are coming together to bring each other joy. Italians, singing their national anthem from their balcony’s, musicians performing live concerts, or releasing original concert footage to fan club members to have a concert experience from home, touching messages from advertising executives, replays of memorable sporting events (an entire Nebraska Athletics day!), community art, drive by parties and a focus on being a good friend and neighbor.  

I am so happy and lucky to be in a community and a world where God’s love is so visible and present. Where even amidst our human suffering, there are so many people working together to get through this and lift us up.

Prayer: God who watches over us, thank you for giving us moments of laughter and joy during this dark time in our earthly experience. Help us to remember and be grateful for all the gifts we have. We are tremendously blessed. 

Christi Moock