Thank God for Laughter

S. Bill Jimenez

Blessed are those who laugh, for they use a powerful tool to overcome life’s troubles. The Lord Jesus tells us: “Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows; but cheer up, for I have overcome the world” (John 16:33). Risibility, the ability to laugh, is God’s gift. This ability is unique in the human species. It’s God’s prescription for a happy, healthy, wholesome, and meaningful life.

We shudder to imagine a world without laughter. Boring? Drab? Lonesome? All of the above. Ella Wheeler Wilcox rightfully observes: “Laugh, and the world laughs with you; weep, and you weep alone.” The Bible teaches that there is “a time to weep and a time to laugh” (Ecclesiastes 3:4). Essentially, God wants us to enjoy life. For Jesus says, “I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full” (John 10:10). That’s why the apostle Paul admonishes us to “Rejoice in the Lord always” (Philippians 4:4).

Why laugh? Because “the cheerful heart has a continual feast,” and “A joyful heart is a good medicine” (Proverbs 15:15; 17:22). The Bible encourages us to live a life of joy and laughter. It’s scriptural to be happy! Laughter is divine, and our God enjoys laughter. Consider this: “He who sits in the heavens laughs” (Psalm 2:4); and “The Lord laughs at him; for He sees his day coming” (Psalm 37:13). Psalm 2:4 tells us: “But God in heaven merely laughs!” And John Weiss boldly asserts, “The laughter of man is the contentment of God.”

I don’t fully understand why we are able to laugh. Curiously, I turned to the World Book Encyclopedia for information. Under the topic, “HUMOR” we read: “No one knows exactly why we laugh, or why anything that is funny should cause us to make a peculiar noise. It would be just as logical to stick our thumbs in our ears and wiggle our fingers as it is to giggle or billow or howl with laughter. But when something strikes our ‘funny bones,’ our diaphragm flutters up and down, and we laugh.

“The urge to laugh appears very early. Babies smile, then coo, and finally chuckle when pleased. If certain parts of the body are tickled with the fingers, laughter is produced in babies as well as in many adults. But by the time children attend school, they also laugh at things they hear and see.”

Laughing appears to be inborn, a part of our genes. Dr. William Fry, a Stanford University psychiatrist, observes that babies begin laughing at two or three months. They increase their chuckle rate steadily until they are six years old. The average kid laughs 300 times a day.

My two grandsons, Francis and Jordan, have the natural gift of laughter. When Francis was four years old, my wife and I watched him play with a balloon. We then joined him, tossing the balloon toward each other. All along, Francis kept on laughing and repeating, “This is funnnnnnn!”

One weekend, the two of them were with us. We took them out to the San Francisco Zoo. While passing through Brotherhood Way, Jordan shouted, “Grandpa, look there is fire!” “Where?” I asked. “Look, there’s smoke over there.” He was referring, of course, to the fog blanketing Daly City. A popular joke is when it’s foggy in Daly City, Filipinos are cooking rice. Then at the Great Highway, along the Pacific Ocean, Jordan was again so excited to tell us: “Look, Grandma, that’s a big swimming pool!” as he pointed to the ocean.

Another time, while watching TV in his grandma’s room, Jordan kept on jumping on top of the bed and shouting, “This is fun!” When his grandma noticed, she told him to stop, saying, “Okay, when I go to your house, I’ll be jumping on your bed.” He replied, “No Grandma, you can’t do that.” “Why not, you do it on my bed?” “Grandma, you’re too old to jump!”

While children are very natural in their laughter, adults seem to be very discreet, and thus lack in the laughter department. Fry estimates that adults laugh from as low as only 15 to as high as 100 times a day. That averages to about 50, which is only one-sixth of the average child’s record. Adults should look into this deficit!

Authorities insist that laughter is also good for the adult’s body, mind, and spirit. It is the best form of internal exercise and relaxation. Fry reports: “When we laugh, muscles are activated. When we stop laughing, these muscles relax. Since muscle tension magnifies pain, many people with arthritis, rheumatism and other painful conditions benefit greatly from a healthy dose of laughter. Many headache sufferers feel the same relief.”

Let’s then enjoy laughter always. It’s good for us physically, mentally, socially, emotionally and spiritually. Laughter’s power is recognized by Mark Twain when he said, “The human race has only one really effective weapon and that is laughter.” Knowing this, I started collecting some funny jokes and books on laughter and deposit them in my “Joke Box” for daily enjoyment. If you have some special jokes, please share them with me. Since laughter is good medicine, let’s take it every day.

As we enjoy our daily dose of laughter, let’s thank God and pray for it as what is posted at Chester Cathedral actually says:

“Give me a sense of humor, Lord;
Give me the grace to see a joke,
To get some happiness from life,
And pass it on to other folk.”

So what are you waiting for? Why not start? On your mouth, get set, LAUGH!

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