BOO!

“Our mouths were filled with laughter, our tongues with songs of joy. Then it was said among the nations, ‘The Lord has done great things for them.’”
Psalm 126:2

Did I scare you? When I was a kid my grandma loved to scare us as we walked into her kitchen. She’s stand hidden just on the other side of the doorway and say boo as we walked through and then she’s have a good chuckle. This fun memory turned up in my head following a video clip we had seen at church. The clip was from the movie Monsters Inc – in the clip the big blue “monster” named Sulley is scared by a little human girl who finds her way into the monster world. She scares Sulley at first; but eventually they become friends and the monster world is changed. At church we saw this clip as part of message series about stewardship in which the idea was to answer the “monster” questions about money. Oh – did I scare you again? Sorry – this devotion is not about money, so you can calm down. So what is it about? It’s about love, it’s about laughter, and it’s about restoration and amazing life change.

This week’s passage from Psalm 126 is a song of celebration for the Hebrew people. It is a song of restoration and life change. The people who had been exiled and lived as captives in Babylon had finally been freed and allowed to return home. What a feeling of that must have been with each step they took toward home the fear, the doubt, the sadness they had experienced turned to relief and joy – the laughter welling up inside and pouring out as a song, giving them strength to rebuild their lives and follow after their God once again.

Scripture tells us Jesus wept, that he understood sorrow and loss. I have to believe that He also laughed – laughed, shaking His head as he walked away from some ridiculous encounter with the religious leaders of the day. Laughing as he sat at table enjoying a good meal. Laughing as His disciples shared stories of life change. Laughter is a powerful thing.

Back to Monsters Inc – in the beginning of the movie the screams of scared children powered the city the monsters lived in, but by the end that big blue monster Sulley - discovered that the laughter of those same children would provide far more power for the city than their screams ever would. Every ones lives were changed – the monsters no longer scare children, instead they made them laugh. The monsters no longer feared becoming contaminated by the children. The children who used to be afraid of the monster in the closet slept peacefully.

So BOO! Hope that made you laugh, I hope you will have many good laughs this week. I hope you will feel the power of love, joy, restoration and amazing life change when you do.

A Prayer
Father, thank you for the gift of laughter. Thank you for the power that laughter has to change our mood, our day and our lives. Help us to see the humor of life, even in the midst of the storms we face. May we carry divine laughter with us wherever we go so those around us can experience that power. In the name of Jesus, we pray – Amen.