Children like Isaac

Jo Mun-gyeong from Daejeon, South Korea

9,935 views

Just as people say a day without laughter is a day wasted, laughing is the best medicine. Laughing is contagious. If you laugh, many good things happen. However, people don’t laugh very well. Perhaps, there may be nothing to laugh in this competitive modern society where materialism, individualism, and selfishness remain rife.

Probably, the time we laugh most in our lifetime must be when we were babies where we had less of those. Sure enough, some sources say babies laugh as instinctive behavior to protect themselves from their newborn days. From about eight weeks after birth, they start smiling by looking at other people’s faces; and at around 52 weeks, they build up their social interactions and laughter is at its best.

There are babies in my Zion too, and among those babies there is a baby with lots of smiles. Usually, she doesn’t cry that often. She is gentle and like to laugh. Even when her eyelids go down for sleep, when she is not in good condition due to hunger or sickness, she still giggles when eyes are contacted and her name is called. For this reason, she gets all the attentions and are loved by all ages. Although she can’t walk and speak yet, I’m sure she’ll receive a lot of blessings from God because she is performing her mission of making Zion members laugh.

What’s amazing is, regardless of age and gender, everyone comes to laugh too when they see a laughing baby. Baby’s laugh fascinates even schoolboys who like to pull a long face at in their stormy period. They soften their rough voices as much as they can and play peek-a-boo to drag the baby’s attention. Seeing them, I too come to laugh. Laughing is really contagious. Because of this baby angel filled with laughter, I see laughter blossoming on the members’ faces as well. Seeing all this, there’s something I felt.

In the Bible, God’s children are called children like Isaac, and Isaac means laughter (Ge 17:19). For that name to suit us, we must make not only brothers and sisters but also Heavenly Father and Mother laugh and happy. Just as we come to laugh and become happy when we see a laughing baby, if we live our life with a bright smile on our faces and overcome difficulties with laughter, I believe Zion members, who see us, will laugh with us and Heavenly Parents will surely be proud of us.

It is said that even the forced laughter is effective as much as genuine laughter. Studies have shown that stimulating the smile muscles will bring fun and happy feelings. We should make efforts to laugh and make laughing a part of our life. By doing that, I would like to make a happy family full of laughter, a happy Zion full of laughter, and a happy world full of laughter, imagining heaven where joy and happiness and laughing sounds never end.