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It’s good to laugh. Great even. <\/span>It’s been said many times, “Laughter is good for the soul.” I wonder sometimes if God laughs. <\/span>The Bible is certainly not without frequent use of irony, whimsy, word-play and puns. <\/p>\n In the last week week of school, my eight year old son was involved in a poetry reading. <\/span>Thirty friends and family were all packed into a classroom to hear their budding readers and actors share what they’d been learning. <\/span> After each student recited a poem, they surprised their teary-eyed, prouder-than-ever mom with a poem that was written specifically for them: <\/span>“mother: <\/span>kind, loving, beautiful, good cook, a great mom. My mother.” This was very typical of the poems that were read to the adoring mothers. <\/span> When it was jrods turn, cameras were out, and he was ready. <\/span>To be honest, I started welling up with pride. <\/span>What amazing lyrics had he come up with to declare to this room full of mothers just how awesome of a mom he thinks I am? I c<\/span>ouldn’t wait. <\/span> “Mother,” he began. “Black hair. <\/span>Lots of white teeth. <\/span>Very sweaty. <\/span>My mother.” Yep. <\/span>That’s my boy. And I’m his sweaty mom. <\/span>What else can a mother do but laugh. And laugh I did. <\/span>Along with all the other kind, loving, beautiful, good cooking, (non -sweating), mothers in the room. These are times when laughter comes more easily. <\/span>But what about when trials which come knocking at the door? <\/span>Is it appropriate to laugh in their face? I remember my dad coming home from work one day while he was in the midst of treatment for liver cancer. <\/span>I was home from college and was sitting at the kitchen table working on a paper when he came in elated. <\/span> I asked him what he was so happy about. <\/span>He told me his story. <\/span> He had been pulled over by a cop for speeding. My dad<\/span> racked his brain for every excuse he could think of to get out of it, and then, as the cop approached the car, it came to him: “I pulled the cancer card! <\/span>It was brilliant! <\/span>Just told the cop that I had ‘chemo brain’ and he let me go without another word.” I sat there in the kitchen laughing with my dad. <\/span>I laughed hard. <\/span>Especially at the absurdity of my pastor- dad who was so proud of himself for getting out of a ticket due to “chemo brain.” I mean seriously. <\/span> And yet, for just a few minutes, we had a moment of pure joy between the two of us in the midst of the drag days that were common as he fought this disease. <\/span> A couple of weeks ago, I met a couple at work who had this same view on life. A beautiful woman was strolled back in a wheel chair, pushed by her husband. <\/span>He laughed as he worked hard to get her up and onto the dental chair, which was clearly not easy for either of them. <\/span>And she laughed at the fact that her legs were unable to help him at all. <\/span> Once he got his wife into the chair, he warned me to not tilt the chair the wrong way once he left the room. <\/span>“Then she’d be your problem to get back up!” <\/span>They both laughed. <\/span>They were light hearted and open about her condition. <\/span> Before he walked out, he looked at her and said, “I love you.” <\/span>And there was absolutely no doubt about that. <\/span> After twenty plus years of dealing with MS, and slowly experiencing the deterioration of her body, she said to me, “You have to laugh at this crazy disease.” <\/span>She and her husband laugh together in the face of this tragedy. <\/span>They laugh at the absurdity of facing challenges as a couple, as a mother, as a human being that so many others are free from. She didn’t choose to tell me about all the difficulties, which were clearly plentiful. <\/span>She instead told me that in the last four years as the disease began to affect her legs, she has been so thankful for her husband and her son. <\/span>“Most men would leave a person like me.” Sadly, she is probably right. <\/span> Several minutes later, I watched her husband help her back into her chair. <\/span>“Well, come on! Jump in.” They both laughed. And I laughed with them, even through blurry eyes. <\/span>I was so touched by his love for her. And I was moved by their ability to laugh. <\/span> <\/p>\n <\/p>\n