Carl Sandburg in OUR PRAYER OF THANKS was grateful for "the laughter of children who tumble barefooted and bareheaded in the summer grass." And, William Temple once quipped "It is a great mistake to think that God is chiefly interested in religion." After all, He's got the whole world in His hands.
Did Jesus ever laugh? I can't help but think when those men were tearing up the roof in order to let the lame man down to Jesus that Jesus looked up and smiled at what was happening and maybe said, "What in the world!" And this with a grin on His face. Maybe even an expressive chortle.
Or, when the disciples kept coming back for more and more bread to feed the throngs, couldn't their faces, including Jesus', have sported smiles of surprise as they realized what was happening and made remarks like, "Wow, this is so cool. The people love it and can't believe what is going on."
This same Jesus encouraged extreme joy when He sought to give encouragement to the persecuted, saying, "Blessed are ye, when men shall hate you, and when they shall separate you from their company, and shall reproach you, and cast out your name as evil, for the Son of man's sake. Rejoice ye in that day, and leap for joy: for, behold, your reward is great in heaven: for in the like manner did their fathers unto the prophets" (Luke 6:22-23).
The Jesus who would tell us to "leap for joy" in times of affliction had to have the capacity to smile and laugh.
Even the great ones, who often were so serious in handling heavy responsibilities, have usually had a sense of humor. Abraham Lincoln, in describing Stephen Douglas' arguments, said they were as thin as a soup "made by boiling the shadow of a pigeon that had starved to death." One author remarked, "Artists have helped heal with laughter." She then referenced Bach's "mirth-filled and even slightly bawdy secular cantatas. It's all part of what helps keep us in proportion."
If God the Father laughs, so must His Son. Of the Father it is said, "The wicked plots against the righteous and gnashes at him with his teeth. The Lord laughs at him, for He sees his day is coming" (Psalm 37:12-13). So, laugh and love. Remember, God made the monkeys to encourage us to do so.
dick christen
