True confession. I love to laugh. And I love to see others laugh. In elementary school I got into trouble on more than one occasion for trying to make my classmates laugh. I still gauge the value of my days by how much joy I shared or received. Just this morning as I headed off to work, my wife instructed me, “You boys have fun today.” Judy knows me well.
Spiritual and leadership mentor Fred Smith wrote: “Humor is part of a healthy rhythm of life. It relieves the monotony. It improves the taste, like salt on vegetables or the meat.” It seems I am always looking for humor in the midst of life. And, believe me, it is there if you look for it.”
Humor is not just telling jokes. There is a difference between a comedian who tells jokes and a humorist who sees the funny in the ordinariness of everyday life. American humorist Will Rogers once said, “Things ain’t what they used to be…and never were.” One of his most famous quotes is still true some 80 years after Rogers’ death:
“Too many people spend money they haven’t earned to buy things they don’t want to impress people they don’t like.”
I recently attended my 60th anniversary high school reunion. The last one I attended was the 40th one and I noticed some major differences. First, there were more walkers and canes than previously. Second, there was a contest to see who had the most hip replacement surgeries. (Judy won with four.) And third, the event started at 5:00 p.m. and ended at 8:30 p.m. so folks could get back home before dark and take their nighttime medicines. Humor often comes from truth.
Fred Smith quoted a doctor friend who told him, “Laughter has been linked by longstanding tradition with longevity. One thing almost all very healthy elderly patients have in common is their sense of humor.”
The Bible provides a foundation for that and a warning for those who don’t apply humor to their life:
A cheerful heart is good medicine,
but a broken spirit saps a person’s strength.
Proverbs 17:22 NLT
After an amazing spiritual service and the reading of the Law of the Lord, Prophet Nehemiah instructed the people to have a feast and share joy with others. He concluded with these words:
“…This is a sacred day before our Lord. Don’t be dejected and sad, for the joy of the Lord is your strength!”
Nehemiah 8:10 NLT
So go ahead…laugh a little. It will bring others joy. At the very least it will make people wonder, and it just might start a great conversation when they ask, “What’s so funny?”
God’s best,
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