Leave ’em laughing

Believe it or not, this is my 100th consecutive ‘Mal on Monday’ column. Every Monday for the past 100 weeks, I’ve attempted to make you smile or even laugh. I wasn’t a great batsman, so this is my first-ever century!

I’ve been writing for Army editorial departments for more than two decades, so when I returned from overseas service in early 2023, I gave myself six months to settle into my new appointment before asking the editorial department if they needed anything written.

Incredibly, on the exact day I was going to email them, online editor Dean Simpson rang me and asked if I wanted to write something for them! I told him about the miraculous timing, and he said, “Yes, we were giving you six months to settle in.”

I presented some options to him but said my preferred one was to write something lighter, for two reasons. First, I’m not aware of any Army editorial department in the world that regularly includes a humorous column in its repertoire of output; I thought we could break some fresh ground. Second, I sensed that we’d all just become a bit too serious about how life intersects with faith. I felt like I was supposed to be outraged about something all the time and, well, I just wasn’t.

So, the idea of giving people a reason to smile at the start of each week appealed both to me and to Dean and away we went. Dean named the column, the wonderful Vaughan Duck provided the comic image of my big head, and I got to work writing.

Along the way I’ve told you about some of my own experiences in the Army; I’ve told tales about some wonderful people I’ve met; I’ve entirely fabricated some stories that never appeared in the Bible, and I’ve even pointed out some of my own deficiencies and foibles, of which there are many.

I’ve been bemused to discover that I could rewrite Scripture and even put comical words into Jesus’ mouth, and people would just laugh along, but if I said something even slightly negative about brass bands, we received some heated responses. Misquote Jesus – no problem. Make a joke about a baritone – big problem. Some Salvos are funny.

A few months ago, I spoke to Dean about how long we’d run the column for, and I suggested 100 articles would be a nice round figure to stop on. Having served as editor-in-chief in both Australia and the UK, I’m well aware of a columnist overstaying their welcome, and I always encouraged my editors to constantly refresh their output and consider new approaches, new columns and new ideas.

So, this is my final ‘Mal on Monday’; I’ll retire with a century to my name. Thank you for reading my weekly mish-mash of words. I hope I’ve caused you to smile once or twice. Thank you also to Dean for seeing the value in a column that aimed only to bring some cheer into a world sorely lacking it.

When I was growing up, we regularly sang a song that said, ‘Joy, joy, joy, there is joy in The Salvation Army’ and it referred to being ‘joyful all the way’. I haven’t sung that song for decades, which is perhaps telling.

It’s been a pleasure to bring some joy back into our Army. Keep smiling as you serve God and others.

Major Mal Davies is the Assistant Divisional Commander for the Victoria Division

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Editor’s Note: We all need a good giggle from time to time, so I want to thank Mal for his weekly insights into the lighter side of Salvation Army life. Yes, this was his 100th and final column, but the ‘Mal on Monday’ tab will remain on the Salvos Online home page, so feel free to click on any of the columns he has produced over the past two years. I’m sure reading them will brighten your day. – Dean Simpson