Rev Allan Bowers, who is one of our supply preachers, has sent me some hymns that he has written. This is one of them . . .

Laughter And Fun

There is a great deal of laughter and fun in Scripture, from the delight God took in
creation to the childlikeness of the Kingdom of Heaven. We do the gospel a great
disservice if we make it all too dour.

For laughter we praise you, O God,
And all the release that it brings:
It makes us to rise up with joy,
and smile at the difficult things;
It helps us to look at ourselves,
And face up to life with its strains,
to carry on living each day,
And even to suffer our pains.

For singing we praise you, O God,
And all the rejoicing it brings:
In filling our lives with delight
It deepens the meaning of things:
Our sorrows are turned into joy;
We're given new strength for the strife,
And find we are thirsting again
To drink from the fountain of life.

For worship we praise you, O God,
And all the renewal it brings:
It lifts up our souls from the earth
To apprehend heavenly things:
It  speaks to our hearts of your love
And beauty surpassing all thought;
It shows us your glory afresh
In all you have patiently wrought.

Allan J. Bowers

The author writes: I wrote this hymn because I could not find a hymn praising God for laughter, so necessary for a happy life. The tune was composed by a blind lady who was organist at one of my churches.

Words and Music © Allan J. Bowers. Reprinted by kind permission