d'NA: A Laughing Community

Some excerpts from Ed Rowell's 'Go the Distance':

Someone has said that the only two organisations that are really changing people are twelve-step groups and the church. The common denominator behind the success of both is community. Change happens when we allow others into our lives.

It's hard to build deep, trustworthy friendships in today's shallow social climate... But let's just get over it. You and I desperately need some people in our lives who will attempt to love us unconditionally, who know us well enough to know when we are hiding something, who can get away with confronting us, and who can "spur [us] on toward love and good deeds" (Heb. 10:24).

Very much sounds like d'NA, although I dare say the d'NA is more like a twelve-step group than a church!


And here's some from Dallas Willard's 'The Divine Conspiracy':

There will be lots of laughter in heaven, you can be sure, as well as joy, for our finitude will always remain. Just imagine an eternity in which no one laughs!

And we should note that one of the things that disappear when we are grinding away at others with our condemnations, blamings, and "pearls" is, precisely, laughter. We become insufferably grim. 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" (Ps. 126:1-2).

Here's to countless days of laughter to come, d'NAers!