The most famous laugh in the Old Testament is Sarah’s. Her laughter is a bit salty. “Shall I know pleasure in my old age?” she asks in Genesis 18. Older couples may see it’s not only a question of having a baby, it’s also the funny question of exactly how the conception is going to occur.
Sarah’s husband Abraham cracks up, too. He laughs so hard he falls on his face. “Ahem, God, don’t you remember I’m a hundred years old, and my wife is no spring chicken, either?”
Nine months later, Sarah is laughing again. Who would have guessed her old breasts would give joy, not only to her centenarian husband, but also—surprise—to a hungry newborn?
I hope, I trust, I’m counting on there being lots of laughter in the world to come. Meanwhile, we can practice taking life—and ourselves—a little more light-heartedly in this one.
Today we remember Benedict the African, confessor, who died in 1589. This message is adapted from “Walking fools” written by Christa von Zychlin in the April 2016 issue of Gather magazine.
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