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Give to us Laughter
These are the opening words of a hymn by Walter Farquharson, with a lively waltz tune provided by Ron Klusmeier. It’s one of the hymns that was chosen for our worship this week, and when I received word of the hymn choices, I thought, “Yes! That’s what we need … Give to us laughter …”
Many of us are weary … weary of pandemic, weary of restrictions,
Weary of bad news, weary of being anxious and uncertain,
Weary of being resentful or self-righteous or angry,
Weary of our own company…
Like the deer that longs for streams of water,
Our souls, our bodies, our minds long for refreshment.
And laughter might be just the thing to provide that refreshment.
The hymn really starts out as a prayer:
Give to us laughter, O Source of our life.
Laughter can banish so much of our strife.
Laughter and love give us wholeness and health.
Laughter and love are the coin of true wealth.
Give to us laughter as sign of deep joy;
let us in laughing find Christian employ,
joining with stars and with bright northern lights,
laughing and praising and sharing delights.
It then turns to self-reflection
Why do we worry that we will lose face?
Why must we rule o’er the whole human race?
Often in family and often with friend
Laughing at pride causes anguish to end.
And finally to affirmation – of God’s presence in all our moments, and of the gift of laughter:
Even in sorrow and hours of grief,
laughter with tears brings most healing relief.
God, give us laughter, and God, give us peace,
joys of your presence among us increase.
May this be our prayer:
Give to us laughter, O Source of our life.
We are weary; refresh us with your gift of laughter.
Disturb us, we pray, startle us, awaken us,
and grant to us new purpose and fresh hope.
We pray in the name of the one who brought your hope and your love into being,
in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen
Until next week, yours in Christ,
Teresa
(Rev.) Teresa Moysey
Harrow United Church
Caring and Sharing in the Community since 1916