The Birth of Laughter

Genesis 18:1-15 [21:1-7]

Infertility is hereditary.
If your parents didn’t have kids,
neither will you.
This was not a laughing matter
to the old man Abraham
and the old woman Sarah

who tried for years without success
to have a child.
God promised Abraham he would be
the ancestor of a great nation,
but the line dies with infertility.
Abraham and Sarah were astonished

when the three mysterious visitors
informed the wizened Abraham
that he and Sarah would finally have a son.
Abraham laughed,
Sarah laughed,
and God smiled at the absurdity.

NOTE: The name Isaac (Yīṣḥāq) means “he laughs/will laugh” in Hebrew.

Third Sunday after Pentecost
June 18, 2023