“Then our mouth was filled with laughter, and our tongue with shouts of joy; then it was said among the nations, the Lord has done great things for them.” — Psalm 126:2 NRSV
My Dad is visiting me, and last night he got a phone call from his grandchildren. I could hear they were telling jokes, so I asked him to put the call on speakerphone. I love when children tell jokes. I love jokes that are well thought out. I love jokes that only make sense to the person telling them. I love to hear the delight in a child’s voice when they tell a joke.
My niece will be 10 this summer, and my nephew finished Kindergarten this week and is six. Their original jokes were as different as they are. And the common trait shared by every joke was joy. They wanted to make others laugh and have an extra excuse to laugh themselves.
Reid (age 6)-How so you make an Aunt Suz? With Slime (cue laughter).
Ella (age 9)-How does a cactus find stuff? It pokes around (cue laughter).
I hope your day includes at least one laugh. Whether you laugh with yourself (we do many silly and funny things), at a joke, at a story, with a friend or alone, I hope this day brings a moment of laughter for you. As a hospice patient who is in his late 90s said this week, “We all need to laugh.” I invite you to take his advice and find some humor in your day.
God of Laughter and Joy, We can take ourselves and our life too seriously. Slow us down and remind us to grin. Then push us to chuckle. When we are ready, give us an opportunity to laugh out loud. And when the time is right, give us a big laugh. Whether we laugh from deep in our bellies or loudly or silently with tears of joy streaming down our cheeks, remind us that laughter is a gift from you. Give us moments of laughter today, we pray. Amen.
