“Laughter is the most beautiful and beneficial therapy God ever granted humanity.”
Chuck Swindoll
I’m embarrassed to be sharing this story. Yet, here I go. I hope I don’t offend anyone.
I like to try to pray or worship each day whether it’s for five minutes or an hour. Usually, I’m pretty self-disciplined about it, but I had been slacking off for the past few weeks. This was partly because my husband and I have been recovering from sickness and partly because I finished a 12-week class, and I
was debating what else I could do.
Well, I was determined I was going to worship God for at least 15 minutes this morning. So, I found a prayer on an app which included a Bible verse, a lesson, and a few prayers. So, I started the prayers.
Right in the middle of the prayer, I let one rip; it was so loud, it scared the cat, and she took off. After a moment the smell bombarded me. Rotten eggs, anyone? Not sure if it was from the spaghetti last night or the oatmeal this morning, but it was bad. I told my husband he would have been
proud as it was like one of his.
Suddenly, I am distracted from my prayers. I realize I didn’t have a candle burning, and I usually do to symbolize God’s light amongst us and something sweet-smelling to the Lord. I thought about the verses in the Bible where God was telling Moses about how incense and aromas were supposed to be placed on the altar. (See Exodus 30.) Here I was offering up…something malodorous.
So, I got up and grabbed my favorite and strongest candle—cinnamon—and I lit it and waited a few moments for the better smelling aroma to appear. Then I started over on the prayers and finished with a sense of reverence.
Afterward, I shook my head and looked up. “Please excuse me. I didn’t mean to be irreverent.” Then I put my head down on the table and laughed for a full minute.
Suddenly, I remembered the time I was helping the priest offer communion (Eucharist) during the church service. An elderly person knelt at the altar and accidentally let one go. I also remembered the time during an outdoor service how the wind took out all the decorations on the altar and almost stole
the papers of the sermon from the priest’s hand. Or the Christmas service when the pianist played the song with a three-time faster tempo than they were supposed to. Then there was the time when a priest was in the middle of the sermon talking about God’s calling on our lives right as a cell phone started ringing really loudly. “It could be God calling!” said the priest.
I believe fully that God has a great sense of humor. While we should always be reverent and respectful in times of worship, human moments slip out. We aren’t meant to be perfect. We are meant to show up. And while this wasn’t one of my best worship moments in the slightest, I will continue to worship.
I don’t think God expects flawlessness. God sees and knows our hearts. Thankfully, even in our imperfect moments, God extends grace.
In Thought, Word & Deed 
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