When Grandchildren Make Us Laugh

Some things make me laugh. Usually it is something funny, like the video our daughter posted on Facebook of a marvelous creation of our grandson Henry. It is short, so if you want a laugh, here is the LINK: Henry’s Video

Henry’s Funny Video Short – Henry loves reptiles and Legos.

Reasons We Laugh

We tend to laugh when something is relatable. I have to understand the context and relate it to my past experiences or events. Humor also is triggered by something clearly crazy, bizarre, irrelevant, unpredictable, or unexpected. For example, the Three Stooges were funny because they would do crazy, unpredictable things that ordinary people would not dream of doing. But you don’t have to be crazy to be funny. There is an actor who plays the role of Kimball Cho in The Mentalist series. He makes me laugh because he has dry wit when he is interrogating a suspect or interacting with dense coworkers. He is a pragmatic man, so he says things that are what everyone is thinking. Usually, he says it in a short sentence.

Laughing with Cindie

Yesterday we received a “FINAL NOTICE” in the U.S. Mail. Before I opened it, I thought it was something important because it said it was “Official Business” and that there was a “Penalty for Private Use, $300.” Wow! But then I opened it and discovered that it was another con. It was really an enticement to call a toll-free number so that they could sell me extended warranty coverage. I laughed. They didn’t even identify the vehicle in question.

The FINAL NOTICE is just one of many.

Then Cindie and I remembered all of the junk mail her mom used to get. Sadly, her mom would take the junk mail seriously, and she often purchased things like a car warranty that she would never use because she forgot she had purchased another warranty. The reason Cindie and I were laughing wasn’t because of her mother’s plight or confusion. Rather, we realized that as we age, we will face the same scams. Today we aren’t fooled, but we realized that someday we might be. We laughed because we might need our children (and perhaps our grandchildren) to keep an eye on us if we start to make questionable decisions. It seems bizarre and it makes us laugh. Thankfully, we know our children will exercise sound judgment and will help us. Sometimes, however, laughter is not what you want to hear.

God Laughs at the Ludicrous Thoughts, Words and Actions of Humanity

There aren’t too many places in the scriptures that say God laughs. I don’t believe that is because he is joyless. He is full of joy and wants us to participate in that joy. His joy runs deep. But he sees how ridiculous we can be if we think we have greater power, wisdom, and understanding about life than he does. When God sees our ridiculous thinking and behaviors, he “laughs.” But he finds no joy in the death of any one of his image-bearers. God is not willing that any should perish. He wants sinners to repent. He provided his Son as a dramatic sacrifice to show how deeply he cares for you and me.

You really don’t want to be the one God laughs at. The jokes about hell are not funny. Don’t ignore what God says in the Bible. If you do, you do it to your own peril.

“Why do the nations rage, and the peoples plot in vain?

The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the Lord and against his Anointed, saying, “Let us burst their bonds apart and cast away their cords from us.”

He who sits in the heavens laughs; the Lord holds them in derision.

Then he will speak to them in his wrath, and terrify them in his fury, saying,

“As for me, I have set my King on Zion, my holy hill.”

I will tell of the decree: The Lord said to me, “You are my Son; today I have begotten you.

Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage, and the ends of the earth your possession.

You shall break them with a rod of iron and dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel.”

Now therefore, O kings, be wise; be warned, O rulers of the earth. Serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice with trembling. Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and you perish in the way, for his wrath is quickly kindled. Blessed are all who take refuge in him.” Psalm 2:1-12 ESV

Psalm 2:1-12 English Standard Version

“The wicked plots against the righteous and gnashes his teeth at him, but the Lord laughs at the wicked, for he sees that his day is coming.” Psalm 37:12-13 ESV

Psalm 37:12-13 English Standard Version