When was the last time you really laughed?
So many of the phrases we use today are from the Bible. People may rearrange the words but the meaning is the same, just like: a merry heart doeth good like a medicine: Proverbs 17:22 a, doesn’t that sound an awful lot like: laughter is the best medicine? Unlike the joke people tell about the Internet, if it’s on the Internet it must be true! You can always trust the truth that comes from the Bible.
Hunter Campbell M.D. (whose life inspired the 1998 movie “Patch Adams”), took the therapy of laughter to a new level. Dr. Campbell did a study for 12 years on the effect humor and laughter had in maintaining good health and in healing properties. They found both humor and laughter can make you feel good and take the edge off difficult situations. It is a coping mechanism, helping people defuse difficult emotions such as anger, fear, grief, and sadness. It’s as though someone flips on a sign giving permission to patients and their family to go ahead and laugh and relax. It has been found to alleviate emotional stress, which in the long run will help prevent stress related illnesses. By releasing stress it also reduces the ‘fight or flight,’ hormones that contribute to hypertension and nervous disorders and other health complications. When was the last time you felt bad after you had a good laugh, never? There are other studies that have concluded that laughter helps your immune and cardiovascular system, by increasing respiratory depth and oxygen consumption. It is said laughter also positively affects hormones, by increasing endorphins and giving the body state of peace. There are so many studies that validate the statement the Bible made; that a merry heart doeth good like a medicine, this blog would be too long to list them all.
I cannot tell you how many times I have seen on Facebook and other places LOL, which most people intend to mean laugh out loud. When was the last time you seriously laughed out loud? I’m talking about an uncontrollable tears running down your face, (nearly wetting yourself) laughter? If you can remember the time ask yourself how did I feel when I was done laughing? Lighter? Like a burden was lifted off your shoulders for just a little while at least?
I stumbled across an old video of Victor Borge. A stand-up comedian who could keep an audience laughing hysterically without ever uttering a curse word, vulgar statement, or derogatory remark. The comedians of the past were so much different than what the so-called comedians are today. They never lifted the head of a dead person thinking it was humor, or ware body parts on their head or shoulders, or used other people’s misfortune for their payday. When they made fun of people it was most always themselves or their close family members. Today’s so-called comedy show is often sprinkled with sexual innuendos and questionable moral standings. Is that really how we want to spend our spare time?
One of the best sources of laughter is family comedy, that’s right, your very own family. Watching a toddler or an infant trying to navigate walking, or putting on clothes for the first time, will always bring laughter. Or maybe you have pets, who behave like people, and do the funniest things. Go outside and play, ride a bike, do something with your family whether they are large or small, young or old. Find joy in the blessings God has given you that many of you take for granted every day.
As parents we need to teach our children that there is joy in serving Jesus. That we find happiness in the blessings of hearth, home, and family. Don’t look to godless comedians for humor, or mind numbing TV time, but rather read a funny book, or play a fun game with your children. Teach them the joys of life from within a family, not from without.
We as authors, often use laughter or humor to defuse tense situations in our writings. The same is true in real life, when we find ourselves in an uncomfortable situation, we try to use humor to get us out. When was the last time really laughed out loud? Didn’t it feel good? What made it happen, and can you capture that feeling again? The Bible tells us: to hold fast that which is good.
A merry heart doeth good like a medicine: but a broken spirit drieth the bones.
Proverbs 17:22
Then was our mouth filled with laughter, and our tongue with singing: then said they among the heathen, The LORD hath done great things for them.
Psalms 126:2
Till he fill thy mouth with laughing, and thy lips with rejoicing.
Job 8:21
Rejoice evermore. Pray without ceasing. In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you. Quench not the Spirit. Despise not prophesyings. Prove all things; hold fast that which is good.
I Thessalonians 5:16-21
A merry heart maketh a cheerful countenance: but by sorrow of the heart the spirit is broken.
Proverbs 15:13
Be glad in the LORD, and rejoice, ye righteous: and shout for joy, all ye that are upright in heart.
Psalms 32:11