Looking for LAUGHTER

Laughter, where are you? Have you gone with the winds? Gone are the days when you held court in our human life and experiences. In your ubiquitous presence, you surrounded our dinner tables with so much joy, you lighted our dark moments and enlivened our workplaces. In your purest form, you are hearty and unpretentious; instantaneous and genuine. You were a delightful companion, a soulmate. In your absence we now frown. And frowns go for ten a penny. But we would rather spend a billion to have you back. So far, our money has only procured an array of comedians but not laughter. We still have medicines on our shelves but they don’t heal our wounds like you do. We still flock to religious houses but the joy of the Lord you bring still eludes us. 

If we may ask you, Laughter, why did you choose to leave us? Why did you walk away without a warning, without fanfare? You couldn’t even wait for a befitting send off. How greatly we must have angered you. Did we naively take you for granted, thinking we would always have you? In our naivety we never asked what brought you to us and what kept you with us. 

In retrospect, you didn’t leave us, we left you. We left you to pursue fame, power and money, at the expense of genuine happiness. Little wonder we are left with short-term grins and long-term frowns. We now know you mirror the love we have for self and for others. You reflect the undying hope we have for our life’s endeavors and echoes our faith that holds firm in times of trouble. As we stayed in our lane, refusing to compare ourselves with others, you flooded our hearts and faces with joy. Our laughter was from inside out. It wasn’t an external stimulus, but an inner voice of peace. As God’s peace garnished our minds, you lighted up our faces. You routinely depicted the happiness we had on the inside. We laughed because we were happy, and we were happy because we laughed.

It’s fruitless looking for you, Laughter. We know where you are and have always been. We will come to you and not you to us. As the Lord lives, we shall do the needful and start laughing again.