Stephen Colbert's God joke: "What if this is all there is?"

A few nights ago Stephen Colbert told a joke about God on The Colbert Report.

It was at the end of an interview with Father Jim Martin, author of "Between Heaven and Mirth: Why Joy, Humor, and Laughter Are at the Heart of the Spiritual Life."

The audience, along with Father Martin, laughed at the end of the joke. Me, I was more puzzled than amused. As soon as I heard the punchline I thought, "Wow. This is profound."

But I didn't know why. Yes, the joke is funny. But it's the sort of humor that's funny because it's so true, and truth often isn't funny at all. So I didn't know what to make of it. Two days later, I still don't.

Here's my transcription of Colbert's joke:

Now, I'm not really a comedian. I don't really make jokes up all that often. I have one joke about God. I'd like to try it on you.

OK. So a guy commits suicide. And he goes to heaven, he gets to heaven.

And God greets him there, and the guy said, "I'm so surprised I'm here. First of all, I thought there was no God. Second of all, I thought if you killed yourself, you know, you were damned forever."

God said, "You know, that's a complicated issue. Everybody at least thinks about ending it, you know, killing themselves at some point." And God says, "Even I've thought of it."

The guy said, "Can I ask, why didn't you do it?"

And God said, "What if this is all there is?"

Think about it. Or, don't. Regardless, this is a great question.

Maybe the greatest question. The answer we come up with, consciously or unconsciously, has a huge impact on ! how we l ive life, how we feel about life, even whether we keep on living.

What if this is all there is?

Stephen Colbert is musical, and knows a lot about music. Almost certainly he's familiar with the 1960's song by Lieber and Stoller, "Is That All There Is?"

The lyrics as sung by Peggy Lee are powerful. For example...

And when I was 12 years old, my father took me to the circus, the greatest show on earth.
There were clowns and elephants and dancing bears
And a beautiful lady in pink tights flew high above our heads.
And as I sat there watching the marvelous spectacle
I had the feeling that something was missing.
I don't know what, but when it was over,
I said to myself, "Is that all there is to a circus?"

Is that all there is, is that all there is
If that's all there is my friends, then let's keep dancing
Let's break out the booze and have a ball
If that's all there is

...I know what you must be saying to yourselves.
If that's the way she feels about it why doesn't she just end it all?
Oh, no. Not me. I'm in no hurry for that final disappointment.
For I know just as well as I'm standing here talking to you,
when that final moment comes and I'm breathing my last breath, I'll be saying to myself,

Is that all there is, is that all there is
If that's all there is my friends, then let's keep dancing
Let's break out the booze and have a ball
If that's all there is

Not a bad philosophy of life, not bad at all, to break out the booze and have a ball. Have a listen.