Joy released

Tuesday in the Fifth Week of Lent

Then was our mouth filled with laughter,

and our tongue with shouts of joy.

Psalm 126:2

I am up to my ears with Holy Week planning when my spouse, with feigned sincerity, suggests a bawdy street ballad for Easter Sunday. I guffaw. I laugh loud and fully. And then I laugh some more.

It feels good to release the serious tension in my soul and body. I laugh not only because his suggestion is ridiculous, but also because he knows it is. He offers me this moment of frivolity as a gift. He wants me to laugh. He wants me to be well.

I savor the humor of the moment and the playfulness we share. And more than that. Filling my body with laughter opens me to joyfulness. And I am reminded once again that the holy One who accompanies me through the wilderness also shields my joy.