Like a maniac shooting flaming arrows of death is one who deceives their neighbor and says, “I was only joking!” – Proverbs 26:18-19

Today’s Scripture Reading (September 9, 2016): Proverbs 26

On May 20, 2012, Robin Gibb (of the Bee Gees) died of kidney failure. His son tells the story of his father’s death, and he says that as the technicians started to pack up all of the equipment that had been used to keep Dad alive, they had left the apartment. When they came back in, he laid down on the couch and grabbed his phone and played the Bee Gees 1968 song “I Started a Joke.” As he rested the phone on his chest, he listened to the voice of his Dad and his uncles and, for the first time, started to weep. At that moment, the song seemed strangely appropriate. And for Gibb’s son, it has taken on new meaning since that dark day.

The Bee Gees have always maintained that the song, I Started a Joke, is deeply spiritual, and that the impact of the song would be destroyed by any organized attempt to try to explain it. It is what it is, and the interpretation is best left up to those who are willing to hear the words of the composition. Over the past couple of years, I have had the privilege of singing the song at an end of summer party that is held locally. For me, it is a story of our interconnection as a people. And of our penchant to take things lightly that need to be taken much more seriously.

Last week I was sent a video by a friend describing racism in my home city. In the video, the occupants of a car yelled a racist slur at a passing pedestrian. The pedestrian decided to confront the people in the car; the car was stopped at an intersection, bringing on more racist slurs. It was disturbing to view the video; I had so hoped that our northern culture was past such idiocy. Apparently, I was wrong. But I could almost hear in my mind the conversation of the cars inhabitants as they pulled away, maybe with an “I was only joking” comment thrown in for good measure. But it just wasn’t funny.

There has been much pain inflicted upon us with that same epitaph. We perpetrate much pain with our attempts at humor. Race jokes, fat jokes, short jokes and bald jokes; maybe it would be better if we stopped trying to be funny. In the words of Solomon, our flaming arrows are falling down on innocent people all around us as a result of our failed attempts at humor. And the words “I was only joking” do nothing to take away the pain that we are inflicting. There is truth in the song of Barry, Maurice, and Robin Gibb that we still need to hear:

I started a joke which started the whole world crying
But I didn't see that the joke was on me oh no
I started to cry which started the whole world laughing
Oh If I'd only seen that the joke was on me

-          I Started a Joke – Barry, Maurice and Robin Gibb (1968).

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Proverbs 27