A little ruby juice?
“Down there,” said Golg, “I could show you real gold, real silver, real diamonds.”
“Bosh!” said Jill rudely. “As if we didn’t know that we’re below the deepest mines even here.”
“Yes,” said Golg. “I have heard of those little scratches in the crust that you Topdwellers call mines. But that’s where you get dead gold, dead silver, dead gems. Down in Bism we have them alive and growing. There I’ll pick you bunches of rubies that you can eat and squeeze you a cupful of diamond juice. You won’t care much about fingering the cold, dead treasures of your shallow mines after you have tasted the live ones in Bism.” The Silver Chair from the Chronicles of Narnia
There’s a post of some level of depth or significance marinating inside, but it’s not ready yet and I don’t have time anyway. I’m racing the clock to get to bed so I can respond promptly to the sound of a marimba, courtesy of my iphone, at my new and improved (?) rising of 5:00 a.m. Yeah, we’ll see how that goes.
What I want to share – very quickly – is about laughter. It is…. you probably didn’t catch the deep breath and accompanying smile that completed that sentence, but that’s exactly what it is. Cleansing and life-giving and good and right. Where has it been all my life?
Okay, to be fair, it’s not like I never laughed. But it wouldn’t a stretch to say that I spent a good portion of my life in a mode of emotional disconnect. There was a lot stirring under the surface, but little made it to the top except maybe for anger. A sense of sadness or longing rarely provoked tears. Moments of joy seldom produced laughter. Reminds me of that fig tree Jesus cursed in the bible for not producing figs. After all, what good is a fruit tree that doesn’t produce fruit?
Over the past several years, God has been working to break down walls and connect my insides to my outsides and more importantly my whole self to his. What came first were tears. At times, a deluge of them. They were salty, delicious, and wonderful. A release of so many sorrows and longings. When they passed, they left the ground clean and fragrant.
What came next, without any effort, were smiles I couldn’t suppress. And a warmth of heart that melted me. Not always. It would harden up, the smiles would disappear, and there was no mistaking the chill. But more and more, the sun shone inside of me and I had a great appreciation after so many years of unfruitful gloom.
But now, oh my. Now is the best of all. There is laughter. Laughter that is spontaneous and uncontainable. Laughter that comes up from the richest, living parts. It is a force to be reckoned with and a pleasure that can’t be touched by lesser things. What a thing to share with friends or strangers or the very Creator of this beautiful release, to whom I would like to give a very hearty thanks tonight.
where waves grow sweet 
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