Living in the Spirit
Scripture Reading: Genesis 21:1-7
The Lord dealt with Sarah as he had said, and the Lord did for Sarah as he had promised. Sarah conceived and bore Abraham a son in his old age, at the time of which God had spoken to him. Abraham gave the name Isaac to his son whom Sarah bore him. And Abraham circumcised his son Isaac when he was eight days old, as God had commanded him. Abraham was a hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him. Now Sarah said, ‘God has brought laughter for me; everyone who hears will laugh with me.’ And she said, ‘Who would ever have said to Abraham that Sarah would nurse children? Yet I have borne him a son in his old age.’
Two friendly college students one year rented the house next door to my mother. Mom worked in the yard a lot, and she and the young men developed an over-the-fence friendship. My sister and brother both lived on farms near my mother and saw her regularly. I lived in another town about 70 miles away and would routinely go pick her up and bring her to visit me.
On one of those occasions, I got a call from my brother asking me if Mom was OK. I said, yes. He went on to explain that the neighbors had called the police and reported that they and not seen Mrs. Knott for several days, and her house had developed a horrible smell. They probably thought she had died. The policeman who got the call contacted my brother and shared the concern with him. My brother explained that Mom was visiting me, and the policeman reported the odor problem to my brother. City animal control officers had asked permission to put some skunk traps out on Mom’s property as they were dealing with a bad infestation of the odorous little animals, and she had agreed. Apparently, one was trapped and was not happy about it. My brother called me to tell me about the situation and, I think, to assure himself that Mom was still at my house. Mom giggled when I shared the story with her, even though she appreciated the young men’s concern. Occasionally that evening, she would get a little gleam in her eyes and giggle again.
I thought about this when I first read about Sarah laughing when told she was going to have a baby post-menopause. Sarah was so caught up in the irony of her becoming pregnant; she even named the baby, Isaac, which means he will laugh*.
Laughter is an excellent medicine for the soul. Finding mutual humor can clear a room of discomfort and distrust. Sharing life stories with others helps us see how much more alike we are than different. With all the tension I have viewed on TV recently regarding discrimination, I enjoyed seeing national guard members joining marchers in dancing the macarena when someone started playing the music. When we can dance together or laugh together, we can find common ground to heal the wounds that divide us.
Prayer: Lord, help us highlight the things that unite us as we explore and work to solve the things that divide us. Amen.
*https://biblehub.com/str/hebrew/3446.htm
All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights are reserved.