pretty. neat.

But genuine shared laughter is one of the surest ways for human beings to come together and break the stalemates of life. It is essential to genuine community. No wonder, then, that laughter is so good for our health. It is even a symbol of redemption, for there is no greater incongruity in all creation than redemption. When deliverance comes, "we are like those who dream: our mouth filled with laughter, our tongue with shouts of joy" (Psalm 126:1-2)

Abraham fell on the ground laughing when told by God that he, a one-hunded-year-old man, would have a child by nenety-year-old Sarah (Gen. 17:17). Later Sarah herself laughed at the same "joke" (Gen. 18:12-15). God specified to Abraham that the child of promise would be named "Laughter" Isaac means "Laughter". "Your wife shall bear you a son, and you shall call his name Laughter, and I will establish my covenant with him" (Gen. 17:19) Was this a penalty imposed upon them because they laughed? Hardly. Rather, it was a perpetual reminder that God breaks through.

-Dallas Willard, The Divine Conspiracy