Photo by Sstayseee

By Elizabeth Chang

When I bump into the wall while walking around a corner,
When I trip over my laptop’s power cord and squeal out of fear that my laptop will fatally crash to the ground,
When I stumble with my words and say something far from what I actually meant to say,
When I mistakenly hear someone say something far from what they actually said,
When I walk from my front door back to my room several times because I almost forgot to take something with me,
When I think of delightful surprises that have shown up in my life,

I laugh at myself.

What is this unexpected lack of coordination?
What is this unexpected faltering of communication?
What is this forgetfulness and unpredictability?

I laugh at myself

Not out of pity or self-deprecation,
Not out of humiliation or shame,
But perhaps a hint of those things
Peek through the coverings of grace

In those moments
I remember my Maker
I remember my Omniscient God
I remember Yahweh, the Omnipresent and Omnipotent God
I laugh, immersed in the Lord’s grace.

—

When do you laugh at yourself?

Elizabeth Chang is getting an MFT (Marriage and Family Therapy) degree at Seattle Pacific University. She graduated Taylor University with a BA in Psychology and Biblical Literature, and was raised in New York City.