Waldo Beach - "Laughter for Lent" (February 28, 1971)

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	(organ music)	0:04
	(congregation singing indistinctly)	0:26
	Let us now turn please to number 571,	4:44
	in the Salter section of our hymnal,	4:49
	and responsibly pray together,	4:54
	a prayer concerning a clean heart,	4:58
	which involves us in the repentance of our sins	5:03
	and in the of assuring words from scripture.	5:08
	Let us pray.	5:15
	Have mercy on me, oh God,	5:17
	According to thy steadfast love.	5:20
-	According to thy steadfast love.	5:24
-	Wash me thoroughly from my inequity.	5:28
-	Wash me thoroughly from my inequity.	5:31
-	For I know my transgressions.	5:34
-	For I know my transgressions.	5:36
-	Against thee, thee only have I sinned.	5:39
-	Against thee, thee only have I sinned.	5:43
-	So that thou are justified in thy assentives.	5:46
-	So that thou are justified in thy aessentives.	5:50
-	The whole thou desires truth in the inward being.	5:52
-	The whole thou desires truth in the inward being.	5:56
-	Hide thy face from my sins.	6:00
-	Hide thy face from my sins.	6:03
-	Create in me a clean heart, oh God.	6:06
-	Create in me a clean heart, oh God.	6:09
-	Cast me not away from thy presence.	6:13
-	Cast me not away from thy presence.	6:16
-	Restore to me the joy of thy salvation.	6:19
-	Restore to me the joy of thy salvation.	6:22
-	Then will I teach transgressors thy ways.	6:25
-	Then will I teach transgressors thy ways.	6:29
-	Deliver me from blood guiltiness, Oh God,	6:31
	thou God of my salvation.	6:34
-	Deliver me from blood guiltiness, Oh God,	6:37
	thou God of my salvation.	6:40
-	Oh, Lord open down thou my lips.	6:41
-	Oh, Lord open down thou my lips.	6:44
-	For thou has no delight in sacrifice.	6:46
-	For thou has no delight in sacrifice.	6:50
-	The sacrifice acceptable to God is a broken spirit.	6:54
-	The sacrifice acceptable to God is a broken spirit.	6:59
-	Amen.	7:04
	(organ music)	7:07
	I shall read selected passages from Matthew 6.	8:03
	"Be careful not to make a show of your religion before men,	8:08
	in order to be noticed.	8:11
	Therefore, when you do your acts of charity,	8:13
	never blow your horn in public,	8:15
	like those play actors do in the synagogues	8:17
	and on the street corners,	8:20
	so as to win applause from men,	8:21
	believe me that is all of the reward they will get.	8:24
	But whenever you, a follower of mine,	8:28
	do a deed of charity, your own left hand	8:31
	must not know what your right hand is doing.	8:34
	That your charity must be in secret,	8:38
	and your father, who sees what it is in secret,	8:40
	himself shall recommend you.	8:43
	And when you pray, you should not be like the play actors,	8:46
	who love to stand and pray in the synagogues	8:49
	or at the corners of the wider streets,	8:52
	to attract the attention of people.	8:55
	Believe me, that is all of the reward they will get.	8:57
	But when one of you prays,	9:01
	go into a room by yourself and fastening the door,	9:03
	pray to your father privately,	9:08
	and your father who sees what is done in secret,	9:10
	shall reward you a openly.	9:13
	Moreover, when you fast,	9:16
	don't look like those miserable play actors,	9:18
	for they look where we're going,	9:21
	trying to make it show that they are fasting.	9:23
	Believe me, that is all the reward they will get.	9:26
	But when one of you fast, poor perfume on your hair	9:30
	and wash your face,	9:34
	that it may not be apparent to men that you are fasting,	9:36
	but unto your father who dwells in secret	9:39
	and your father who sees what is done in secret,	9:42
	shall reward you openly."	9:45
	(congregation singing faintly)	9:49
-	The Lord be with you.	10:30
-	The Lord be with you.	10:32
-	Let us pray.	10:33
	Almighty God we bring before you now,	10:43
	our prayers of Thanksgiving,	10:45
	because there are many, many things	10:48
	for which we are grateful.	10:50
	We thank you for the possibility	10:53
	of coming into your presence regularly,	10:55
	or the fulfillment of our needs.	11:00
	We are grateful that when we need correction,	11:04
	we can find it in your presence.	11:08
	When we are dirty, we can be cleansed by coming before you.	11:11
	When we are lonesome or down,	11:16
	that we can find comfort in your presence.	11:19
	When we are afraid	11:23
	and do not have nerve that we can find courage.	11:26
	We thank you for the inspiration of beauty	11:31
	in nature and in the arts,	11:33
	for nobility of character, for loveliness in family life,	11:36
	for fathers and mothers who have gone before,	11:42
	sons and daughters who come after.	11:46
	We thank you for the rich heritage of the past,	11:50
	for the open challenge of the future,	11:53
	and supremely, for the opportunity of the present moment.	11:57
	Oh God, we bring also before you,	12:04
	our prayers for others and ourselves.	12:06
	All of us in need of what you're able to give.	12:12
	Help us to spread true love in the world,	12:18
	that by us and our fellows	12:25
	it may penetrate a bit into all circles,	12:26
	all societies, all economic and political systems,	12:30
	all laws, contracts, rulings,	12:36
	of every kind that affect human beings.	12:40
	Grant that this love may penetrate into offices,	12:45
	into universities, factories, apartments,	12:49
	movie houses, dance halls,	12:54
	into the deliberations of the university administration.	12:58
	That it may be found in the works that thus do,	13:04
	and the fraternities and sororities and the why,	13:09
	and the chapel, granted it may even now penetrate	13:12
	into our hearts here.	13:18
	We pray Oh God to deepen our worship,	13:23
	as we are before you now.	13:27
	With some act of personal decision,	13:28
	renew our minds, one by one,	13:33
	that each of us may present the world with one life	13:35
	that is honest, with one life that is sincere,	13:39
	with one dedicated and unselfish spirit.	13:45
	We offer our prayers for our nation	13:52
	in this day of need when blundering stupidity,	13:56
	so often puts all things as cue.	13:58
	Raise up among us,	14:02
	men and women know what our nation ought to do.	14:03
	Grant unto all of us,	14:08
	the grace to rise above our individual self-interests,	14:10
	above our high bound prejudices,	14:14
	whether of class of race or nation,	14:16
	to a large and Catholic care	14:20
	for the whole body of the Commonwealth of all the people.	14:22
	Beat down the swords	14:28
	that are lifted against the peace of the world,	14:29
	give your people grace to make peace that will endure.	14:33
	And to that end raise up in the church of Christ a vision,	14:39
	of what peace requires.	14:44
	May there be peace in the church where there ought to be.	14:48
	Oh God, save us from small and narrow thoughts of thee.	14:55
	Through countless channels, you do seek our lives,	15:02
	through many adore,	15:06
	you would come in if we would welcome you.	15:08
	Though men may deny, claim that you do not exist,	15:12
	if they find truth, they have seen you.	15:19
	Though men may disbelieve in your existence,	15:24
	if they love beauty, they have met you.	15:28
	Though men may refuse our creeds,	15:32
	yet if they achieve goodness, they have met you.	15:35
	Today, we would offer hospitality	15:43
	in our souls to your spirit.	15:47
	Spirit of God, descend upon our hearts,	15:52
	through your son Jesus, our Lord.	15:57
	We make now our own,	16:01
	the prayer which he has taught all of his followers to pray.	16:03
	Saying, "Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name,	16:09
	thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth	16:14
	as it is in heaven.	16:18
	Give us this day our daily bread	16:20
	and forgive us our trespasses,	16:23
	as we forgive those who trespass against us.	16:26
	And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.	16:29
	Or dying is the kingdom	16:34
	and the power and the glory forever, Amen"	16:36
	To some of you here,	17:10
	perhaps methodist by persuasion or upbringing,	17:13
	or baptist by immersion or inertia,	17:18
	or who sit loosely to a Catholic or Episcopal affiliation,	17:24
	it may be necessary to announce	17:32
	that this is the first Sunday in lent.	17:34
	And what's lent?	17:39
	The word may ring some distant and vague bell in your head.	17:42
	Something to do with Mardi Gra and hot cross buns and spring	17:48
	and a time before Easter.	17:54
	Well, to recall theory and tradition,	17:59
	lent is the period in the Christian year of 40 days	18:03
	from Ash Wednesday, till Easter,	18:08
	when Christians are supposed to prepare	18:12
	for the events of Holy week,	18:15
	by fasting and penitence and self examination.	18:18
	Actually nobody these days pays much attention to lent,	18:26
	strenuous self denial or fasting,	18:32
	at least for religious reasons, is not in style.	18:36
	I recall some time ago, an Episcopal teenage friend of ours	18:42
	who announced that for lint,	18:46
	she was giving up watching "Peyton place."	18:48
	It's supposed to be some sort of solemn time	18:54
	of spiritual cleansing and self-sacrifice,	18:57
	but maybe the extent to which it is observed here,	19:02
	is in sacrificing on the bodily bliss	19:06
	of slumber till Sunday noon,	19:10
	to get up and go to chapel for the good of the soul.	19:15
	Though, it may seem a bit irregular	19:24
	for this first Sunday in lent.	19:27
	The day prompts a reflection	19:30
	on the place and meaning of the comic in the Christian faith	19:33
	and whether laughter or sorrow	19:41
	is the more suitable for this season.	19:45
	At first sight, it may seem that laughter	19:51
	has nothing to do with lent,	19:54
	or with the tragic events of Holy week	19:57
	toward which it moves.	20:01
	It's a solemn time, fun and games are out of order.	20:04
	Check your giggles at the door of the chapel	20:10
	when you come in.	20:13
	Be solemn.	20:16
	But a closer and more a careful look	20:20
	at the meaning of the Christian faith,	20:23
	reveals a subtle and close relation of faith and humor.	20:27
	The quality of a person's humor,	20:35
	what he finds funny in his universe,	20:39
	what he laughs at is an interesting index,	20:42
	of the quality of his religious commitment.	20:47
	I'm speaking here of religious commitment or faith,	20:53
	not in the sense of one's nominal or official religion,	20:58
	or his church affiliation, but of one's real religion,	21:04
	that center of value	21:12
	to which he is completely committed	21:14
	as the high God of his life.	21:16
	The Supreme Lord of his Pantheon,	21:20
	his object of ultimate concern.	21:24
	Whatever a man cannot laugh at, is his God,	21:30
	His Holy of holiest, his revered treasure.	21:36
	Everything else is held provisionally lightly,	21:42
	irreverently, dispensively, humorously.	21:47
	Try on four size, if you will.	21:56
	These quick Sketches of three lifestyles.	21:59
	They may represent three kinds of persons	22:07
	or perhaps more accurately three different moods	22:09
	in each of us.	22:13
	But let me sketch them,	22:16
	as three different characters you see around	22:18
	on the quad, in the dorm.	22:23
	The first, is the solemn grim rebel,	22:26
	professional protestor or Protestant.	22:31
	The militant fanatic,	22:37
	who as far as I can observe is completely humorless.	22:41
	Life is a continuum of angry committee meetings	22:46
	and gripe sessions in protest,	22:51
	against the establishment or the system.	22:54
	The young bearded prophet	23:00
	feels himself appointed to emancipate Duke University,	23:04
	from the repressive tyrants in Allen building.	23:07
	I remember seeing one such student	23:13
	during one of the episodes here,	23:15
	marching about with a large sign that said,	23:21
	"The trustees must capitulate in his whole cast."	23:25
	It was not the slightest hint of a twinkle or a grim.	23:32
	This lifestyle, either angry or morose incidentally,	23:37
	is what was called in medieval times, accidy,	23:44
	one of the seven deadly sins.	23:48
	Accidy is chronic moodiness, a form of salty discomfort	23:53
	that grows out of radical egocentricity.	24:01
	It takes its self with such dreadful seriousness,	24:04
	such solemn self importance,	24:10
	that it can't laugh at anything, least of all, itself.	24:15
	This heavy humorless lifestyle is quite plainly,	24:21
	the demeanor of heart and face of the Pharisees	24:29
	in the sermon on the Mount or lesson of the morning,	24:34
	who are the objects of Jesus attack	24:39
	and who attacked him to death?	24:44
	The Pharisees took themselves far more seriously,	24:47
	then they took even the God of their faith.	24:50
	Their official religion was the worship of Yahweh,	24:56
	the creator and giver of the law.	25:01
	Their real religion was to be seen of men in their piety,	25:05
	in their observance of the law.	25:13
	"And when you fast," says Jesus to his students,	25:17
	"do not look dismal like the hypocrites,	25:23
	for they disfigure their faces that their fasting,	25:28
	may be seen of men."	25:32
	Public displays of Christian piety	25:37
	are not what you'd call common on the Duke Campus in lent,	25:40
	or any other days,	25:47
	but there's a kind of reverse Phariseeism	25:49
	in the display of conspicuous impropriety,	25:54
	on the part of those who publish their iconoclasm,	25:59
	and impropriety with great anxion and seriousness.	26:03
	In protest against a conventional pharisee	26:10
	who takes pride in being careful and couth,	26:15
	holier than thou,	26:21
	the unconventional Pharisee takes pride	26:23
	in being careful and uncouth, Unholier than thou.	26:26
	If conventional people sit in chairs and say,	26:34
	"Please and thank you," the reverse Pharisee says,	26:37
	"Let us sit upon the ground	26:45
	and tell sad stories of the death of Kings."	26:48
	But in a curious way, they both miss the mark,	26:55
	are sad and pathetic.	26:59
	For their religion, their Supreme treasure	27:02
	is the esteem of men to be highly regarded,	27:05
	either for piety or impiety.	27:08
	A second lifestyle, which is really a variant of the first,	27:17
	is that of the person who does see and laugh	27:25
	at the ludicrous in his world,	27:28
	the absurdities and incongruities	27:31
	that are the makings of the comic,	27:34
	but what's funny is always seen	27:36
	in the other person over there, on the other side,	27:38
	not in himself.	27:44
	In its mild form,	27:46
	it is the humor of poking fun	27:50
	at the foibles of our neighbors,	27:51
	the glee at seeing the pompous man slip on the banana peel	27:55
	or the Bishop in Solemn procession,	28:02
	tripping over his robe	28:05
	or detecting the sawdust trickling out	28:10
	from under the stuffed shirt.	28:13
	And that's innocent delight.	28:17
	But in its more serious form,	28:21
	its wit can be a tool of the social entrepreneur	28:24
	telling the joke on the other.	28:30
	But if you look closely,	28:33
	you can detect him looking out anxiously	28:34
	from behind the joke,	28:36
	to see what points he scores in one upmanship.	28:40
	This brand of humor can become the sardonic,	28:45
	bitter humor of ridicule, of derision, of scorn.	28:49
	Born of contempt, Its taste is tart.	28:57
	The sparkling wine of its fun turns to vinegar,	29:04
	its humor is barbed, its wit is wounding.	29:10
	Like with the first,	29:16
	the humor of ridicule can dish it out but can't take it,	29:19
	for it too is solemn about the sacred ego,	29:24
	its Supreme treasure.	29:31
	Quite another lifestyle,	29:36
	shows through the humor born of faith in the transcendent.	29:37
	This cast of humor is well defined by Reinhold Niebuhr,	29:46
	"Humor," he says, "is a proof of the capacity of the self	29:52
	to gain a vantage point	29:58
	from which it is able to look at its self.	29:59
	The sense of humor is thus a byproduct	30:04
	of self transcendence.	30:07
	People with a sense of humor	30:10
	do not take themselves too seriously,	30:12
	they are able to stand off from themselves	30:16
	and see themselves in perspective	30:19
	and recognize the ludicrous and absurd aspects	30:23
	of their pretensions."	30:28
	And In the vertical dimension of our existence,	30:36
	in the presence of almighty God,	30:40
	the Holy of holiest are not laughter, joy,	30:43
	the comic, quite out of place, no, Just the opposite.	30:51
	From within the court of the almighty,	31:01
	we can see most clearly the ridiculous absurdities	31:04
	of our earthly existence from outside, as from the moon.	31:09
	And since the ultimate incongruity between our littleness	31:17
	and the vast greatness, the ample mercy of God.	31:23
	Now to be sure, for a person	31:32
	who has been grasped by the meaning of faith	31:36
	as radical trust in the sovereignty of God,	31:41
	life is not frivolous, a farce,	31:48
	to be acted out with fun and games,	31:53
	life is a serious business, a swift and solemn trust.	31:56
	Yet its seriousness is relieved from being grim,	32:04
	dismal and fanatic by a sense of grace.	32:09
	Shifting, the focus of concern from the thy self	32:17
	to the purposes of God.	32:21
	From that outlook, the man who lives	32:24
	from out of that transcendent center of confidence,	32:26
	can take himself With a large grain of salt.	32:29
	That perspective is the basis of authentic humility.	32:38
	It results as James Thurber remarked somewhere,	32:44
	"When a man realizes	32:50
	that he's just another of God's creatures,	32:52
	less kindly than dog possessed less dignity than a swan,	32:55
	and incapable of becoming	33:03
	as magnificent an angel as Panther."	33:05
	Along the plane of man's societal relations to neighbor,	33:13
	this sense of humor makes for us subtle,	33:20
	but crucial difference between the humor of ridicule	33:24
	and the humor of sympathy.	33:32
	The former is a function of anxiety and self importance,	33:36
	the latter is a function of grace.	33:42
	In ridicule, I laugh at the other,	33:46
	in sympathy, I laugh with the other.	33:52
	I include myself in the joke.	33:57
	In the traffic of our ways in this university,	34:03
	we are often engaged in controversy.	34:09
	Confrontations of students with administration,	34:15
	petty jealousies and political skirmishes	34:18
	among faculty members within and among departments	34:21
	who guard their little eye castles,	34:27
	against all threats.	34:30
	Conflict in collision	34:35
	are of course inevitable in human community.	34:36
	They're part of its health and vitality.	34:39
	but what might relieve our collisions from harshness,	34:44
	soften our asperities, would be a graceful sense of humor.	34:50
	The quality of gentle sympathy	34:58
	derived from a transcendent trust, in one,	35:00
	before whom we are all creatures,	35:05
	members of one human family,	35:09
	sharing a like all manner of vanity and foolishness,	35:12
	living in the common home of a globe	35:18
	that turns by both gravity and grace.	35:23
	Lent is a season for self-examination and contrition.	35:32
	Contrition means humility,	35:39
	and humility includes laughter.	35:41
	Exactly counter to the dismal aspect	35:46
	of the prideful humility of the Pharisees.	35:52
	I suggest that for lent as for any season,	35:58
	we take as model,	36:02
	the lifestyle of the lilies of the field,	36:05
	and the birds of the air who live in the nonchalant of trust	36:10
	in a kind of spontaneity of joy.	36:16
	Not all of the comic sense, to be sure,	36:24
	is a reflection of trust.	36:29
	There is the sort of comedy Much evident in modern drama,	36:34
	in a lot of novels,	36:42
	whose laughter is a brave smirk In the face of death.	36:45
	At best a relief, a comic relief	36:52
	from the terror of nothingness,	36:57
	the last guard rail against the void of despair.	37:00
	But this is not christian laughter.	37:08
	The Christians delight is the laughter of confidence.	37:12
	Humor calls attention to faith	37:19
	in the ultimate meaning and purpose in things	37:22
	that transcends both tragedy and comedy,	37:25
	both the harsh and ludicrous in congruity of existence,	37:30
	for all its levity and frivolity,	37:37
	it is an affirmation of light,	37:41
	rather than darkness at the heart of reality.	37:45
	The first and last mood of the biblical faith is joy.	37:53
	Its confidence is that at the heart of the earth,	38:01
	is a raging murth, that God is good.	38:07
	His goodness and mercy shall follow me	38:15
	all the days of my life,	38:18
	even through the Lent on valley of the shadow of death.	38:22
	His steadfast love endures forever,	38:31
	His faithfulness to all generations.	38:34
	Therefore, make a joyful noise to the Lord,	38:38
	serve the Lord with gladness,	38:43
	come into his presence and go forth with singing.	38:46
	Let us pray.	38:58
	Almighty God,	39:12
	who does ever touch our lives with the surprises of joy,	39:14
	grant us the grace to see ourselves from beyond ourselves	39:20
	by the clear light of thy judgment	39:26
	and the kindly light of thy mercy and forgiveness.	39:29
	That we may take delight and laughter from thee,	39:36
	who aren't our true treasure,	39:41
	through Jesus Christ, our Lord, Amen.	39:46
	(organic music)	39:54
	(choir singing faintly)	40:24
	Almighty God, we dedicate this offering	58:10
	and our lives to thee, praying that this money	58:13
	and our very beings may be used as a living Cree	58:17
	for the glory of God and the salvation of the world.	58:23
	And now, may the grace of the Lord, Jesus Christ,	58:31
	be with us all.	58:34
	(choir singing faintly)	58:42
	(bell dings)	1:00:15
	(organic music)	1:00:30

Item Info

Title:

Waldo Beach - "Laughter for Lent" (February 28, 1971)

Permalink:

https://idn.duke.edu/ark:/87924/r4kd1vm5p

Date:

February 28, 1971

Speaker:

Beach, Waldo

Contributor:

Duke University. Chapel

Identifier:

UA.17.01.0003 RR-0561
ref6325_551
uachapelsermaud
duke:628200
dcrau002549
ark:/87924/r4kd1vm5p
4ff431c6-c25c-4cfc-97d9-ec43cda9ca3c

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Duke Chapel Recordings

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Duke University Chapel recordings, 1954-2005

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Language:

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North Carolina
Durham (N.C.)

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The Duke University Chapel Recordings were transferred to the Duke University Archives beginning in 1970.

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CC BY-NC 4.0

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This recording may contain 3rd party materials, such as music or readings that are therefore not covered by the Creative Commons license indicated here. For more information see https://library.duke.edu/rubenstein/research/citations-and-permissions.

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Waldo Beach - "Laughter for Lent" (February 28, 1971)

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1. Waldo Beach - "Laughter for Lent" (February 28, 1971)

Duke University Archives

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Waldo Beach - "Laughter for Lent" (February 28, 1971)

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Duke University Archives

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