Holy Laughter & Flying Tomatoes

Today in the town of Buñol, Spain, the streets will run red -- not with wine or paint, but with tomatoes. It is the 80th anniversary of the world’s largest food fight, known as La Tomatina, which occurs on the last Wednesday of August each year.

At the sound of a cannon, trucks will dump 120 tons of overripe tomatoes into the streets, and more than 20,000 people will spend the next hour laughing, slipping, and flinging the fruit at one another. By the end, participants will be ankle-deep in tomato puree, dripping with pulp, and grinning from ear to ear.

The festival began in 1945 in Buñol when a scuffle broke out during a local parade, and a group of young people started grabbing tomatoes from a nearby vegetable stand and throwing them at one another. The food fight caught on so quickly that it became an annual tradition.

But not everyone approved. In the 1950s, Spain’s dictator Francisco Franco tried to shut it down, calling it disorderly and unseemly. The townspeople resisted, insisting on the joy of the event, and eventually they reclaimed their annual celebration. By the 1980s, television cameras spread images of the laughter worldwide, and what began as a prank among children grew into an international symbol of joy and festivity.

This past Sunday, we reflected in worship on the story of Sarah, who had her own journey with laughter. At first, Sarah laughed in disbelief when God promised her a child in her old age. Later, she laughed in joy when the promise was fulfilled and she held her son in her arms. And finally, the laughter became public when she named her son Isaac -- “one who laughs” -- as a permanent reminder of God’s faithfulness.

The people of Buñol may not be pondering biblical promises when they toss tomatoes at one another, but the heart of their celebration is joy: messy, uncontainable joy. And just like Sarah’s laughter, joy is contagious. It cannot be silenced -- not by dictators, not by doubters, not even by the messiness of life itself.

Laughter is a holy gift, Friends. It lifts burdens, unites neighbors, and reminds us that God’s promises often arrive in the most surprising ways. So whether you are ankle-deep in tomato pulp or ankle-deep in the daily challenges of life, remember Sarah's words in Genesis 21:6 -- “God has brought me laughter, and everyone who hears about this will laugh with me.”