In the Book of Genesis, a biblical story begins and ends in laughter:
And God said to Abraham, “As for your wife Sarai, you shall not call her Sarai, but her name shall be Sarah. I will bless her; indeed I will give you a son by her.” Abraham threw himself on his face and laughed, as he said to himself, “Can a child be born to a man a hundred years old, or can Sarah bear a child at ninety?”
Why is Abraham so roaring with laughter that he throws himself on his face? Is it at the impossibility of a couple of such advanced age having a son? Is it at the absurdity of such an impossibility? Or is it, perhaps, a robust affirmation, in laughter, that such a blessed event is most welcome and may happily come to be?
The story continues:
And they said to Abraham, “Where is your wife Sarah?” And he replied, “There, in the tent.” Then one said, “I will return to you when life is due, and your wife Sarah shall have a son!” Sarah was listening at the entrance of the tent, which was behind him. And Sarah laughed out loud, saying, “Now that I am withered, am Ito have enjoyment—with my husband so old?”
Then the Lord said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh, saying, ‘Shall I in truth bear a child, old as I am?’ Is anything too wondrous for the Lord?”
Sarah lied, saying, “I did not laugh,” for she was frightened. But the Lord replied, “You did laugh.”
The most curious and pertinent feature of this part of the story is that God rebukes Sarah for saying “I did not laugh,” correcting her and insisting that she did laugh. This suggests that laughter is somehow necessary, for the wholeness, for the integrity, of this event.
The story resumes:
The Lord took note of Sarah as He had promised, and the Lord did for Sarah as He had spoken. Sarah conceived and bore a son to Abraham in his old age, at the set time of which God had spoken. Abraham gave his newborn son, whom Sarah had borne him, the name of Isaac.
Where is the laughter in this section, you may ask. It is present, and robustly present, in the biggest, the most uproarious, laughter of all, in Isaac’s very name, for Isaac means “laughter.” Sarah has conceived and given birth to, or procreated, laughter. This is the birth of Laughter (Isaac).
Was Isaac jumping with joy in the womb? Rather than cry, did he emit peals of laughter at his birth? Was he such a hilariously happy infant and child that he lived up to his name as the incarnation of laughter? Are we to laugh with Sarah at his birth, and rejoice and be glad in laughter as the child Isaac waxes ever more merry and grows ever more mirthful?
The story concludes:
Now Abraham was a hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him. Sarah said, “God has brought me laughter; everyone who hears will laugh with me.”
Rather than, Let us pray, should we sometimes say, Let us Laugh! Let us, like the fresh and ruddy cheeks of the newly born laughing Isaac, be tickled pink with lusty laughter.
That we do so, as the story suggests, God is insistent. And remember that Sarah said, “God has brought me laughter.” This is the lowdown from highup.
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The sections of this story are found in:
Genesis 17:15-17
Genesis 18:9-15
Genesis 21:1-7
HyC