First Baptist Church of Herndon

A Little Laughter

Linda Soller | Apr 26, 2021

Laughter really can be strong medicine. Sometimes laughter is just what we need. Recently in our book group, called the Book Bunch, we had a chance to laugh at ourselves. Most years we select five books that are either inspirational, historical fiction, or non-fiction, but all connected to our faith. This year for practical reasons we decided to read and discuss five different books of the Bible. First, we discussed the book of Ruth. I confess I selected it because it’s short and we got a late start. This month we discussed the book of Esther. All the people who joined our Zoom discussion this month happened to be church going Bible reading Christians. The book of Esther was not totally unfamiliar to us. So, what made us laugh?

As a result of our focused reading and research (there is a great YouTube video on Esther), we learned that God isn’t officially mentioned in the book of Esther. Maybe that doesn’t sound funny, but when we realized that after all these years none of us had noticed that fact we had to laugh. How had we missed it? The fact, in and of itself, is not earth shattering, surprising yes, and unexpected, but not a deal breaker. We learned there’s much to be gained from the book of Esther, and it is certainly God related/inspired. We discussed the way God works in a troubled world and through the lives of people even when they may not realize it. We could see God at work in a story with plenty of not so godly people. It was the revelation, as a group, that for all we know there is so much more to learn that made us laugh at ourselves.

We want to believe we have the answers. If we admit there may be something we don’t know we might feel we are diminishing our authority or may appear foolish. I beg to differ. I am the first to say there is so much I don’t know. It’s important that I admit that to myself because it gives me space to learn, to change, to be accepting, and now that I think about it, space to share a little laughter.  

Have a great week! :o)