Laughter

 I love to laugh. I don’t think I laugh enough. Not just a chuckle or a smile, but a deep, belly, makes you cry type of laugh. The kind of laugh that can’t easily be tamped down. If you try to smother it, you end up belching out strange noises, usually through your nose. That kind of laugh doesn’t happen often enough. I always feel a sense of euphoria when that type of laughter overtakes me.

Laughter doesn’t strike everyone the same way. Humor isn’t one size fits all. What strikes me funny may not hit you at all. I remember one noon at school several of us teachers were watching a video of Mr. Bean doing his absurdity. Some of us were laughing so hard we couldn’t breathe, and others were looking at those of us laughing wondering what on earth was wrong with us. They saw no humor in the slapstick. If you slipped on the ice in front of me, I would check to see if you were alright, and then I would probably laugh. Slapstick humor is definitely my type, but it is certainly not for everyone. Not every type of slapstick works for me either; I never understood what was funny about the Three Stooges.

Laughing in church can be quite dangerous. There are certain places and times when laughter just isn’t appropriate, and those times can be the funniest, at least to people with my sense of humor. As a pastor’s kid, I got in trouble so many times for laughing in church, but sometimes even my dad couldn’t keep a straight face. Like the time the PA system in the church tangled up with the CB radio channel across the street on Good Friday. My dad had just said something like, “Pilate said,” and the next response was “10-40 big buddy.” Really, who wouldn’t find that funny? Every time you thought about it for the rest of the service type of funny.

Laughter is wonderful, and I wish I could do it more. It’s a gift that clears the air and lifts the load on one’s shoulders. We all need a good laugh every now and then.

I think God laughs a lot. I think He has a wonderful sense of humor. Just looking at the diversity of people and our inane antics and you can see that. The animal world makes us all smile at their antics. Humor seems built into us, so of course it would stem from the Creator.

Unfortunately, there are way too many things in our world that are anything but funny. Too many people are suffering around us to find much humor. The cost of things like food and medicine making people decide not to eat, or not to take a full dose in order to make things stretch. And people who aren’t even given the decision, there just isn’t any food or medicine for them. Decidedly not funny.

Yet people create memes about all manner of things, especially about the unfortunate situations others find themselves in, and those memes get sent around and find a wide audience. Apparently some people find these things funny. And, lest I get too judgey, I very easily laugh when listening to late night comedians talk about current events. I know they are putting their own spin on things, and are making fun, but they do make me laugh.

Sometimes what seems funny to one person comes off as very hurtful to another. Making fun of someone is not something I often find very funny, and yet, I laugh at those comedians making fun of politicians. I know I find very little humor in things that embarrass me, yet I have been known to laugh at something that is embarrassing to someone else. I don’t mean to be cruel, sometimes I just can’t help it, especially if it’s a slip on the banana peel kind of thing.

I want more laughter in my life, but not at someone else’s expense. So maybe I should be more circumspect about political humor. I found nothing funny about an AI figure of our president dressed in biblical robes, looking angelic and seemingly healing someone. That was disturbing. But when he said we’d misunderstood the picture, it wasn’t biblical; it was from the Red Cross and was him as a doctor – well, that made me laugh. Not the good kind of laughter, however. It was more the sarcastic, “right” type of chuckle. But the pictures of real doctors wearing biblical robes – those were funny.  I’m not sure the President was trying to be funny as a heavenly healer. It must have made some people laugh; it certainly has run its course.

I don’t get all upset at something like that as being blasphemous or anything. They have Jesus super hero dolls that come with different outfits. That doesn’t bother me. However, I do understand that things like that really offend others. So again, I need to beware of how, where and when I share my humor. My laughter liberties might be horribly offensive to someone else.

I think that’s my point. Laughter is healthy and air-clearing, but not at the expense of someone else. We need to know our audience. If my primary purpose is to be exhibiting the Fruit of the Spirit, then my humor needs to reflect kindness and self-control.

Ecclesiastes 3:4 reminds us there is a time to laugh and a time to cry. We are not promised laughter every day, though I don’t think there is anything wrong with looking for it. We are promised joy, which is deeper and more profound. Jesus tells us that He came that we might have abundant joy. Joy can be there in the midst of sorrow. That is pretty amazing. I’ve experienced that joy.

I guess if I had to choose, I’d choose joy. But I really love to laugh.