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Monday, September 17, 2012

"Between Heaven and Mirth, Can You Laugh with God?" by Fr. James Martin

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/rev-james-martin-sj/between-heaven-and-mirth-can-you-laugh-with-god_b_994344.html
One of my favorite images of Jesus is a pencil drawing of Jesus laughing!
Our God has a sense of humor, all we have to do to prove it, is look in the mirror!
Bridget Mary Meehan, arcwp
www.arcwp.org
Fr. James Martin in Huffington Post
"...Rabbi Burton Visotzky, professor of Midrash and interreligious studies at the Jewish Theological Seminary in New York, noted that while the Hebrew Bible often shows a stern God, the tradition of a playful and loving God is also part of the Jewish tradition. "In a fifth-century Midrash in Israel," said Rabbi Visotzky, "the rabbis tell the story of God braiding Eve's hair in the Garden of Eden, like one who would help a bride. It is a charming and playful image of a loving God."
Once, when she was travelling to one of her convents, St. Teresa of Ávila was knocked off her donkey and fell into the mud, injuring her leg. "Lord," she said, "you couldn't have picked a worse time for this to happen. Why would you let this happen?" And the response in prayer that she heard was, "That is how I treat my friends."Teresa answered, "And that is why you have so few of them!"  This story, one of the most well known about St. Teresa, is often told as a way of demonstrating the abundant humor of the saint. But it shows something else: her playful way of addressing God. Moreover, it shows her assumption of God's playfulness with her...."

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