Healthy Living

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Laughter is the survival gift from God. Human beings love to laugh. Fr, Theodore Hesburgh, former president of the University of Notre Dame, says about the benefits of laughter, “I can think of no better way of redeeming this tragic world than love and laughter. Too many of the young have forgotten how to laugh and too many of the elders have forgotten how to love. Would not our lives be lightened if only we could all learn to laugh more easily at ourselves and to love others?”

What does the Holy Bible say about laughter?

1) There are many references in the Holy Bible about laughter. There are more than 40 references to laughter in the Bible which prove that God has a sense of humor and wants us to laugh, too. There is a Biblical humor saying, “When I first heard the version of God telling Noah to build an ark, Noah’s response to a noisy neighbor was, “How long can you tread water?” and this became a catch-phrase for me to think of the Christian view of laughter.

2) Why should the Christians be reluctant to laugh when the Holy Bible tells us, “Shout with joy to the Lord, all the earth” (Psalm 98:4)? I think we should add some images of Jesus smiling, which he must have done often to attract multitudes.

3) Just imagine Jesus chuckling at Cana when he saw the reaction of wedding guests who tasted wine they thought they were drinking water.

4) A few references from the Bible
“The One enthroned in heaven laughs” (Psalm 2:4).
“A glad heart lights up the face, but by mental anguish the spirit is broken” (Proverbs 15:13)
Another verse says, “There is a time to weep, and a time to laugh” (Ecclesiastes 3:4)
“A joyful heart is the health of the body, but depressed spirit dries up the bones” (Proverbs 17:22).

Christianity is not against laughter or humor. It keeps us united with the love of God. Laughter becomes sinful only when it offends justice, charity and human dignity.

Prayer and laughter are both forms of complementary medicine, techniques used with standard medical treatments in order to develop the mind’s ability to help the body to heal or keep itself well. There is no substitute for laughter. It touches the soul and makes the living more beautiful.

Christian laughter is a redeemed laughter, a carry-over from the Paschal mystery, lived in our daily routine of life. It is our hope’s last weapon in the face of disaster and death. The famous Literature in Tamil, called Thirukkural, says, “The best way to meet a disaster is to face it with laughter”. Let us laugh for the greater glory of our Lord.

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