Friendships, Laughter, & Joy

Part of the Water Cooler Wednesday crew - click HERE to go to the main page for WCW.

I think these three things get overlooked a lot of times in our lives: friendships, laughter and joy. Not that they get overlooked - more like, they are taken for granted so often.

I didn't realize how much friendships can make or break a person. I'm a relatively outgoing person who can make friends easily. This is mainly because of my take-charge attitude that requires me to organize events and outings, socials and game nights. Lately solid, deep friendships have been lacking. I moved to a bigger city than which I started (though, I daren't say Nashville is a huge city). I have one friend that I brought with me. My work companions are quite possibly the best colleauges to work with. But at the end of the day, I need some time alone. I need to recoup and rest. There is literally no time for deep friendships. Even if there WERE time, I'm moving in May. Is it worth the hassle of getting deep, and then having those people torn from our hearts?

People long for community, belonging, genuine laughter and a sense of joy that runs through all of that. It is an out-flowing of true community. It may be because I haven't been able to effectively get plugged into a church. I attend on occasion, but most weeks I'm gone. God and I have our one-on-one time, but where is the community that brings so much life into a person?

At one point in my life, I heard a person boldly make the statement that they didn't need to go to church to be a Christian - that they could worship and do their own thing, and that it was between them and God.

After trying to make a go at that kind of lifestyle, I'm learning why that statement made me cringe so much. "Going to church" isn't all about what we can personally take away from a worship experience from God. Yes, I believe that we can have great moments with God in a "worship session" or from a sermon. But I would venture to say that it's even more the relationships we build with people, giving and taking of talents, trading of stories - and laughing together.

I love laughing. Laughing is a bubbling up of the joy that is deeply rooted within my heart. Sometimes the best way to get through a situation, God has given me laughter. It's hard to laugh by yourself though.

I'm currently in the midst of reading a book called "Pagan Christianity". George Barna and Frank Viola look at the early church and how we got to where we are - and how much of that is rooted in pagan tradition. They don't recommend that it's necessarily WRONG, but they do challenge that maybe there's an even BETTER way to experience God and to see Him move. And it's through the community and the togetherness that the early church had.

I'm seeing more and more of this in my life. Churches stepping away from the tradition and liturgy that has binded them so tightly that they have no room to move. I'm hearing stories and reports like that from Alli Rogers' Blog (see here). It makes me happy. It makes me long to be in the midst of that kind of community and that kind of worship.

I dare you to watch this whole video without laughing: