YOU SLAUGHTER ME

If you search the Bible for the word "laugh", you won't find a lot that's funny. Depending on the search system you use, you'll probably hit on the word "slaughter" more often than laugh or laughter.
At first blush, there are very few instances in the Bible it seems where laughter is met with approval. Abraham and Sarah had some explaining to do when they laughed at God. Ecclesiastes talks about laughter being foolish but there is the more oft quoted there is a time to laugh passage.

There are plenty of instances in the Bible where laughter is referred to as something the person laughing will eventually regret.

I know some Christians who read the Bible that way. They are dour. Laughter is frowned upon.

I don't laugh at God, but I laugh a lot.

I think God laughs at us...often. Can you really blame Him?

I laugh at things other people don't see the humor in.
I laugh at times when it's probably not appropriate.
I laugh at the world on a regular basis.
I see humor in almost everything, and as long as it's not hurtful to someone else, I can find no reason not to laugh.

I won't laugh at you if you are convinced the world is a place of no humor. In fact I will be sad for you.

Don't get me wrong.

I pray a lot.
I pray for things that I believe go unnoticed by others.
I pray in places I suppose many folks would consider inappropriate. I've prayed while sitting on the john.
I read my Bible there too..quite often.
I pray for the world a lot.

I see God everywhere and I don't have a problem talking to God no matter where I am.

Call me warped if you want. I'm sure if I allowed some head examiner to crawl around my mind he would determine I use humor as a defense mechanism. Is that a bad thing?

Are we supposed to be defenseless?

What mechanism would you choose?

Considering the unkind ways I'm often tempted to defend myself, laughing certainly seems among the least egregious.

Now, if your laughter goes on the offensive that's a different story.

But it's a funny story.