Loving Laughter in a Word That Discourages Joy

Several years ago, a friend and I were bluntly told that we “laughed like unsocialized homeschoolers.” Perhaps there was something more insulting lurking beneath the surface of that comment, but I’ll choose to put a positive spin on it and take it as a sign that my friend and I never had our bubbling joy stifled by the institutional walls of the traditional classroom.

But, even if my laugh is a little more hearty than those of others, I think I can safely say that it doesn’t compare to those I heard the other day when I came across an old clip from a French television show. The show brought together a handful of people with unusual laughs that sounded like everything from a screeching seagull to a bike horn, and the laughter that ensued was at least infectious, if not side-holding!

“[T]he smile is always individual and even secretive (especially if it is a little mad),” G.K. Chesterton writes, “while the laugh can be social and gregarious, and is perhaps the one genuine surviving form of the General Will.”

In other words, when people laugh, it almost always breaks the ice, creating a commonality and thus a bond with those who share it. It opens channels for further conversation and activity, cheering the weary or discouraged.

Today, many bemoan the isolated nature of society. Unfortunately, such isolation was actively encouraged just a few years ago, and destroying community-building entities—such as the family, church, and neighborhood—seems to be a specialty of our culture. Thus, by encouraging more laughter, we can reignite the connections our culture needs to survive in a time when many of us are increasingly isolated and depressed.

Laughter Points Us to the Author of Laughter

Popular thinking suggests that God is austere and stern, sitting up in Heaven waiting to zap us. In reality, God is the author of laughter, a fact which shines through both in His Word and in the unique and amusing creatures with which He filled the world.

And perhaps that’s exactly why we don’t laugh as much today—because we don’t know the Source of true joy, and in fact, have done our best to stifle any references or remembrances of Him. Thus, by allowing more genuine, wholesome laughter in our lives, perhaps we will open up the doors of communion and fellowship not only with others, but with Him as well.

Indeed, it just may be that merry hearts are exactly the medicine that this poor, sick culture of ours needs.

https://intellectualtakeout.org/2023/08/loving-laughter-in-a-world-that-discourages-joy/

[TBC: Proverbs:17:22A merry heart doeth good like a medicine: but a broken spirit drieth the bones.
See All...: “A merry heart doeth good like a medicine: but a broken spirit drieth the bones.” Today, many in this world have a commonality with Ezekiel’s vision of the valley of dry bones in Ezekiel 37. Only the Lord has the power to resurrect those dry bones, for The Bible says, "He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life" (1 John:5:12He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life.
See All...). To those who have not Jesus, their bones are bleached, disjointed, and dry. Spiritually speaking, they have no life.]