We’ve all either been there, heard about it, or had it happen to us. Children are sitting around a cafeteria table; or maybe it’s a group of college roommates hanging out on a Friday night. The time, place, and ages vary, but the outcome is the same. Someone takes a drink; at that exact same moment in time, something funny happens. The giggles begin and eventually turn into guffaws. The poor soul with cold liquid in his mouth tries desperately not to let it escape his ever curling lips. Shoulders shudder and strange noises exude. The more he tries not to laugh, the harder he (and everyone around him) laughs. Eventually, he can contain it no more, but instead of spilling forth from his mouth, the fluid finds an alternative route of escape: his nose. We’ve all been there and felt that delightful burning that can only come when joy and pain collide in a spectacular show.
Growing up, my brother was the king of making things come out of his nose. I saw more liquid escape that boy’s olfactory organ than a soft drink dispenser at the local convenience store! Milk, soda, juice, punch, nothing was safe whenever he ingested it. That child found nearly everything funny! And I’m not talking just a small-giggle-and-it’s-over funny. I mean at the littlest notion, this boy was sent into convulsion of ecstatic laughter that seems to ignite everyone else in the room. Being his younger sister I was, of course, in awe of this ability.
I so looked up to my brother and his talent not only for making almost every liquid known to man shoot out of his nose, but his knack for finding the hilarious in the mundane, the funny in the boring. I never understood how so much joy could well up in a person at such short notice. Now don’t get me wrong, I laughed, and still do. However, the instances of good, hardy belly laughs in my life seem to wane in comparison to people like my brother. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t seem to get up the gumption to just let a good guffaw rip.
What do we do when the milk just won’t come out of our nose? Everyone around us is holding their sides in joyful agony while we sit in the corner chuckle a few times and wait for everyone else to calm down. How do we deal with the loss or lack of joy in our hearts?
You may have expected this answer to come, and if you did, congratulations because you already knew the answer to your own question! The way we get over the blues and into the brightness of overwhelming joy is through and in the Lord. Psalms is full of declarations such as, “My joy is in the Lord”; “The Lord is my joy and my strength.” Our joy comes from sitting at the feet of the Master Crafter and soaking in His radiant delight. If He made the nose, certainly He knows the secrets to propelling liquid from it. So grab a copy of the Word, grab some milk, sit at His feet and let the good times roll!
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Comments 8
I love this. It’s totally for me. Right now. Today.
Thanks.
Author
Ha! I’m so glad to hear that!! After being down with tummy bug this week, I needed to hear you say that. So, thank YOU! 🙂
I don’t recall it happening that frequently, but I’ll take your word for it. Then again… it very nearly happened again just a few nights ago. Twice. In about a five minute time span. There were jokes about Sandra Lee’s “sensuous” truffles that really just looked like little piles of poo. Link for photo goodness: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/sandra-lee/sensuous-chocolate-truffles-recipe/index.html I’m sorry, things that look like poo are never sensuous… especially if you’re then expected to eat the faux-poo. (Ha! See what I did there?) And then there’s the part where my inner twelve-year-old still appreciates a good poo joke. But I digress.
I think my approach to the hilarity is this: The world is an incredibly absurd, messed up place. If I couldn’t laugh at the ridiculousness of it all, I honestly don’t think I would have made it this far. I prefer to mock the world rather than weep for it. At least, while I’m around anyone. I save the weeping for when I’m alone because, let’s face it… nobody wants to see that.
Author
Well, it certainly wasn’t a daily occurrence or anything, but it happen fairly frequently in the grand scheme of things. 🙂 and, yes, those truffles looked like poo. LOL
Seriously? 3panmanorn? Where did that come from?
Author
Ha!! I didn’t even notice that! Weird!!
I love to laugh and I do so as easily as your brother…the only difference, instead of things coming out of my nose on a really good laugh, I snort. God definitely has a sense of humor!
Author
That’s awesome! I, too, snort. Usualy when I get tired. Ha!!