Falling Down Laughing
LEAH FARISH | GUEST Events of the last couple of years have robbed us of several wonderful things, and one of them is laughter. Oh, we’ve had a few humorous moments—I recall trying to talk from behind a mask. I wanted to ask an acquaintance, “Are your roommates nice?” and instead said, “Are your roommates mice?” I suppose she could have said, “Yes--I wanted to get a cat and they won’t let me….” And as we all resorted to written communication, typos abounded: “I loom forward to seeing you,” and “I’m drowning in the hot tub” when my friend meant “drowsing.” I contributed this gem to one discussion: “I have a couple of other thighs to point out.” Churches tried to market themselves online, which reminds me of one cheery offer—“Don’t go crazy in isolation; let the church help!” My hope is that God will return joy and laughter to His people in the coming days. Laughter is not something mentioned much in the Bible, but let’s compare two of those mentions. In Genesis 18, we see Abraham’s wife Sarah, eavesdropping beside the tent flap where, outside, Abraham was entertaining three mysterious “men.” Through them, God spoke to Abraham and said that Sarah would bear a son. She was old, well past childbearing age. So she “laughed to herself” at the idea of pregnancy.
