Ancient mystic Meister Eckhart (1260-1328) said that humanity was created out of the laughter of the Trinity.

Isn't that a fabulous thought?

The sacred community at the center of all creation - Father, Son, Spirit - is a community of love, self-sacrifice and JOY. The kind of joy that bubbles up into laughter.

Remember how Karl Barth said, "Laughter is the closest thing to the grace of God?"

Well, perhaps Bart read Eckhart.

Perhaps brilliant theological minds are onto something.

If we were created out of the shared laughter of the Trinity, then we were created to laugh. And when we laugh, we are in some way imitating the God of the Universe. When we laugh, we are reflecting God to each other, reminding each other of the grace that lies at the heart of it all.

Life is hard. Life is scary. Pain is all around us. Wars rage, the climate cries out, death comes too early and too often.

Amidst the trouble and turmoil, the weeping and woe, what if there is a God who knows that these atrocities will never have the last word? A God who knows that all things will be set right in ways beyond our best imagining? A God who aches and resides with us while we await death's final defeat? What if that God created us out of laughter, for laughter, even in the midst of our tears?

Laughter is no panacea. It is a serious discipline. It is an echo of a life to come. A reminder that weeping will last for the night, but joy will come in the morning.

And when that morning finally comes, joy (and laughter) will have the last word.

"Do you want to know
what goes on in the core of the Trinity?
I will tell you.
In the core of the Trinity
the Father laughs
and gives birth to the Son.
The Son laughs back at the Father
and gives birth to the Spirit.
The whole Trinity laughs
and gives birth to us.

All things love God."

(Meister Eckhart)