Posts Tagged: laughter

“Believers as Naturalists”

On January 7, 2022 by Dteb With 0 Comments - down to earth believer

“There are believers in the supernatural and then there are those who believe in science and natural law.” That is the attitude of lots of people these days.

What if I told you that there are believers who are also naturalists? That is what I’m going to tell you in this post.

I was listening to Genesis 18 yesterday. For the sake of context, here is part of the chapter relevant to the matter at hand:

“Gen. 18:1   And the LORD appeared to him by the oaks of Mamre, as he sat at the door of his tent in the heat of the day. 2 He lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, three men were standing in front of him. When he saw them, he ran from the tent door to meet them and bowed himself to the earth 3 and said, “O Lord, if I have found favor in your sight, do not pass by your servant. 4 Let a little water be brought, and wash your feet, and rest yourselves under the tree, 5 while I bring a morsel of bread, that you may refresh yourselves, and after that you may pass on—since you have come to your servant.” So they said, “Do as you have said.” 6 And Abraham went quickly into the tent to Sarah and said, “Quick! Three seahs of fine flour! Knead it, and make cakes.” 7 And Abraham ran to the herd and took a calf, tender and good, and gave it to a young man, who prepared it quickly. 8 Then he took curds and milk and the calf that he had prepared, and set it before them. And he stood by them under the tree while they ate.

Gen. 18:9   They said to him, “Where is Sarah your wife?” And he said, “She is in the tent.” 10 The LORD said, “I will surely return to you about this time next year, and Sarah your wife shall have a son.” And Sarah was listening at the tent door behind him. 11 Now Abraham and Sarah were old, advanced in years. The way of women had ceased to be with Sarah. 12 So Sarah laughed to herself, saying, “After I am worn out, and my lord is old, shall I have pleasure?” 13 The LORD said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh and say, ‘Shall I indeed bear a child, now that I am old?’ 14 Is anything too hard for the LORD? At the appointed time I will return to you, about this time next year, and Sarah shall have a son.” 15 But Sarah denied it, saying, “I did not laugh,” for she was afraid. He said, “No, but you did laugh.” (English Standard Version)

This is a story of two old, childless folks who lived about four thousand years ago. They knew the facts of life. And the fact was that they were never going to have a baby. Sarah laughed the laugh of a naturalist who had just been confronted with a supernatural prediction.

Let’s not be too hard on Sarah. Abraham had laughed too when confronted with this baby announcement (Genesis 17:17).

As C.S. Lewis pointed out, the ancients knew where babies came from. They were much more aware of the world (and of what we call “natural law”) than we frequently give them credit for being.

And let’s face it: Miracles are not God’s usual way of operating. If they were, they wouldn’t be so miraculous. If miracles were super common, we wouldn’t be impressed. Indeed, we would take them for granted.

I take great comfort from the fact that Abraham and Sarah were naturalists who came to believe in their own personal miracle. They were told to name the child “Isaac”. Why? Because the name Isaac means “laughter”. Every time the spoke their son’s name, they were reminded of their naturalistic and natural amusement at God’s miraculous prediction.

But God had the last laugh. God always does.

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“You Need to Laugh More”

On January 12, 2019 by Dteb With 0 Comments - down to earth believer


The other day, God and I had an interesting conversation.  I often talk to God.  Sometimes, I shut up and let God get a word in edgewise.  Once in a while, I even listen.

“You need to laugh more,” God said.

“You may be right,” I said to God.

“I usually am,” said God.

And I laughed.

. . .

 I laughed again this afternoon.  This was not due to a God conversation, but a wife conversation.  She was trying to get into the car to go to a birthday party, but was having a difficult time.  It is generally considered unsafe to drive an automobile with the door open and one leg outside the car.

So, I bent down very gingerly to help her get entirely into the car.  She laughed and said, “I didn’t realize how much my leg was hurting until I tried to get it in the car.”

“I understand,” I replied.  “My back is hurting so much that I had to be carefully bending down to help you.”

We laughed.

“Old age is such fun,” I continued.  “If I had known how much fun it was, I would have gotten old a lot sooner.”

Who knows?  I may just laugh again before the day is over.

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“FORTY-FIVE YEARS OF LEARNING TO LOVE”

On August 4, 2018 by Dteb With 0 Comments - down to earth believer

Today, my bride and I celebrate forty-five years of being married.  I am more in love with her than ever, more than I ever thought I could be.

I am still a beginner at this love business, but beginners can teach a lot.  So, here are some rather random thoughts about love and marriage from this beginner.

  • Love is not something you fall into.  It is a discipline to which you commit yourself, like running a marathon, but without a finish line.
  • When I am not acting or feeling lovingly toward my sweetheart, I need to change me, not her.
  • Heraclitus said, “You never step into the same river twice.”  He was right about more than rivers.  Relationships are the same.  I never wake up with the same women twice.  She has changed and so have I.  There is never a reason to get bored.
  • To restate Heraclitus, there is enough mystery and joy in every face to last a lifetime.
  • Marriages are not made in heaven.  Neither are they forged in the fires of hell.  They may be suggestive of either heaven or hell (or both), but they are built on earth.
  • Gratitude is the lifeblood of a loving relationship.  If I am not being grateful every day for this woman who has loved me all these years, I am in trouble and headed for more.
  • If I want my love to love only me, I am opting for less love, rather than more.  She loves our children and grandchildren, making lovely things, baking, flowers, serving others, our dog.  I should be glad, and most of the time I am!  The more she loves people and things other than me, the more she has love for me.
  • I also need to extend my love to others.  To limit my love to my love is to limit my love for my love.
  • Laughter is even better than making love.  Perhaps laughter is making love.
  • Sharing good memories together is wonderful.  So is sharing good forgetories.
  • The past needs to be buried quickly.  It needs to be given a decent burial, yes.  But it does need to be buried.
  • The more I love my God, the more I love my wife.  The converse is also true.

Happy anniversary, dearest.  I hope that we have many more.

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“LAUGHING ABOUT WANT TO BE IN CHARGE”

On September 6, 2017 by Dteb With 0 Comments - down to earth believer

“Never put anyone who wants to be in charge in charge of anything.”  (Down to Earth Believer)

So, I caught myself wanting to be in control this morning.  (I wonder how many times I don’t catch myself?)  When I was a pastor, I often wanted to be in charge, and sometimes had the illusion that I was.  Usually, the deacons, or another leader in the church, or some outspoken little old lady would bring me back to reality.  God’s messengers are all over the place.

Ironically, my struggle with the desire to be in control was connected with a twelve-step group that our church may (or may not) be starting.

Why is this ironic?  Ah, so you are not familiar with the twelve steps, are you?  The first step is “We admitted were powerless . . . , and that our lives had become unmanageable.”

And the last clause of the twelfth step is that we commit ourselves “. . . to practice these principles in all areas of our lives.”  I suppose that this applies to starting a twelve-step group as well.  After all, the last time I checked, “all” still means ALL!

So, I started laughing.  And the more I laughed, the funnier it seemed.  The funnier it seemed, the more I laughed.  I laughed until I cried.  I felt God laughing along with me.  When I am willing to laugh at my own foolish self, I have an endless source of fun and funny.

I have heard it said that the devil hates humor.  There is much truth in that.  Of course, the devil can bend good things to his own purposes, but that doesn’t mean that good things aren’t good things.  They are still good.  Laughter is extraordinarily good!

So, perhaps I will be involved in helping to start this group, and perhaps not.  But one thing is for sure: I will not be in control.  I don’t think that there has been a job opening in the God department, and the position is not likely to come open any time soon.

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Laughter Clubs

On December 16, 2016 by Dteb With 0 Comments - down to earth believer

 

Have you ever heard of “laughter clubs?”  I hadn’t until this morning.

It began with curiosity, as most wonderful things do.  “‘This is amazing,’ Moses said to himself. ‘Why isn’t that bush burning up? I must go see it.’”  The woman-who-was-no-longer-at-the-well said to her neighbors, “Come and see a man who told me everything I ever did! Could he possibly be the Messiah?”

I was curious as to what feelings or emotions really are.  This curiosity was not academic.  I’ve been struggling with all kinds of emotions here of late, especially feelings of depression.

Plus, last night at work, I had a bad spell physically.  For the first two hours, I was feeling fine.  We weren’t all that busy, but I had several customers.  But then, I suddenly got very short of breath and flushed, dizzy, and sick at my stomach.  I clocked out early, and drove home the back way so as not to encounter a lot of traffic.  I drove very slowly, and did not sideswipe anyone, though I’m sure I weaved a bit, and no doubt irritated a lot of drivers behind me.  (I pulled off whenever I could, in order to let them go around me.  Fortunately, it was too dark for me to detect any rude gestures.)

Feeling depressed is a serious matter.  Feeling bad physically isn’t exactly pleasant either.  A cocktail of the two is especially toxic.  I still felt bad this morning.  I say again that my curiosity was not academic.  It was intensely practical.

I ended up at the following web site: http://www.laughteronlineuniversity.com/feelings-vs-emotions/, accessed 12-16-2016.  Since the author of this site mentioned that fact that he had been interviewed on NPR, I then went there to read their summary of the interview with him.  (If you would like to do the same, go to: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=6641178, accessed 12-16-2016.)

This is how I found out about laughter clubs—clubs where people get together to do laughing exercises.  Just thinking about this, I got to laughing so hard that I was afraid that I would awaken my wife.  The very idea!  Laughing clubs!  Really?!?

And, as inexplicably as it came, the depression was gone.

Anybody want to join my club?  There are no dues.  The only requirement is to be willing to laugh.  You don’t even have to mean it.

 

 

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