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TRUST JESUS TODAY

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Previous Challenge Entry
Topic: Laughter (10/18/04)
TITLE: It’s good to start the day laughing
By Annette Agnello
10/22/04
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This morning after I got Mario’s lunch packed and breakfast was ready I came back to the bedroom to tell him breakfast was on the table. He was mumbling, “I know there’s another one, they got in the ark in pairs.” He was looking for matching socks.

He was thinking Biblically, because he had been studying for his ministry classes as he does every morning while I cook. I had been unable to think of anything about laughter except for the story of God hearing Sarah laugh and I felt like there would be a lot of people writing about that.

Mario suggested I write about Jesus being approachable, and happy. Many churches present Jesus as positively grim, the church I grew up in was one of those churches. It wasn’t really until I was close to thirty before the idea of a smiling Jesus came clear to me. There was a Easter play at church and Carl, who was playing Jesus, danced and partied with his followers smiling and laughing. That is probably why the children came to him. He probably took some free moments to play with the children. I’m sure there was laughter.

Haven’t you ever laughed at a preacher’s comment in a sermon. Don’t you think Jesus got a laugh from time to time. He knew the scriptures from time to time He must have had the passage from Prov 17:22 in mind. “A merry heart does good, like medicine, But a broken spirit dries the bones.”.

But back to our morning, we laughed at the socks and the antics of the cats. And at the great accuracy of the weatherman. That’s the best way to start a day. Can’t you imagine laughter in the camp with Jesus and the disciples? Even some of the things He said were plays on words in his language. They just get lost in the translation. There was joy in that camp, beyond anything you can imagine.