The Twins
It’s been said that laughter and crying are twins.
The older I get, the more I believe it.
When I was younger, I thought they were opposites. One belonged to joy. The other belonged to sorrow. One was something to pursue. The other was something to avoid.
Life has a way of teaching otherwise.
Some of the hardest I’ve ever laughed happened at funerals. Not because anything was funny, but because a room full of people who loved someone dearly suddenly remembered a story. The tears were still there. The laughter simply found its way into the same moment.
I’ve shed tears in moments of grief, but some of the deepest have come in moments of gratitude. Standing beside a bed and realizing there would be one more tomorrow. Watching a child carry values into the world that once had to be taught. Holding a grandchild and seeing both the future and the past in the same face.
Maybe that’s because both laughter and tears are responses to something larger than ourselves.
They appear when words run out.
When joy becomes too big for a smile, it becomes laughter.
When love becomes too deep for language, it becomes tears.
Both are reminders that we were created with the capacity to feel deeply. In a world that often encourages us to stay guarded, that may be one of God’s greatest gifts.
Jesus wept.
Yet children were drawn to Him. Crowds followed Him. People wanted to be near Him. I have a feeling there was laughter around Him too.
A heart that can never cry usually struggles to love.
A heart that can never laugh often forgets how to hope.
Perhaps that’s why the twins travel together.
Both remind us that we are still alive. Still human. Still capable of being moved by the things that matter most.
“The soul speaks two languages. One sounds like laughter. The other sounds like tears.”
“Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn.” Romans 12:15
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