Laughter

It amazes me how different aspects of life layer on top of each other, intersecting, overlapping, events and ideas being colored by other events and ideas. I wrote about Isaac yesterday, about how his story is an in between story. Then I sat in Bible class and then church this morning and heard the story of Isaac in a completely different light.

If you were at my church, you probably didn't hear anything about Isaac this morning. The texts came out of Nehemiah and Philippians, not Genesis. And if you sat by me (Andrea), I'm sorry I was so squirmy, but I had synapses firing on so many levels, my mind was abuzz.

What I missed in the story of Isaac was the laughter.

His mother laughed when she heard the promise he would be born, but that doesn't explain why Isaac was named "He Laughs." If he was named for his mother's lack of trust, he would have been named "She Laughs" or "She Didn't Believe." But Isaac's name was Laughter.

In Nehemiah this morning, we looked at a people so serious about restoring their relationship with God that they spent weeks in confession, study of scripture, and public mourning. Their mourning did not end in shame or sadness, though, but in celebration and joy. I invite you read my friend's blogpost about joy in the face of mercy here. As Kristy says, "Grace is accepting the consequences and then releasing them to the wind."

For the sermon, we turned to Philippians 4. The subject was giving--do we use our money for happiness or for joy? What I heard was that joy--capital JOY--always happens in relation to others, whether the people we are with or the God we serve.

That's what was missing in the story I told yesterday, the story bubbling beneath the story. Isaac's entire story is told in relation to his parents, his children, his wife, his neighbors. It is told, especially, in relation to his God. In his story, we catch glimpses of the story of his life. He went to a field to meditate. He received God's promise. His neighbors noticed that God was on his side. He sought peace.

Underneath the story of the sacrificial child, the father of twins, the foolish old man, runs a story of laughter and joy.

In this week that is all about giving thanks to God for his bountiful blessings, I pray you will seek connections with people and with God and that you will find JOY and LAUGHTER, no matter what your circumstances. I will be aiming for the same in myself.

Photo credit: Arnett Gill via VisualHunt / CC BY-NC-ND