A Gift Of God's Grace -- Laughter
Preaching
Windows For Life
Inspirational And Devotional Illustrations
Humankind is never so expressive of the goodness of God as when a person is laughing. In the Holy Bible, Ecclesiastes 3 states that "for everything there is a season and a time to every purpose under Heaven ... there is a time to laugh" (portions of verses 1 and 3).
One has only to listen to a small child bubbling over with joy to understand how natural it can be to laugh.
Surely part of our praise to Almighty God for his eternal goodness can be laughing as well as singing. The two seem to complement each other.
Proverbs says, "A merry heart is good like a medicine."
Humor can be used in various ways to clarify a spiritual problem. Though it is said that there is no biblical expression of laughter by Jesus Christ, Jesus did use irony, a form of humor. In the story of the woman who had been caught in adultery, she had been brought to Jesus for his condemnation. When Jesus said, "Anyone among you who is without sin, be the first to throw a stone at her" (John 8:7 NRSV), no one cast a stone! We smile at that.
We also know that Jesus enjoyed festive occasions, and at such times there is always harmless banter, person to person, with laughter following. If he did not laugh, Jesus must have enjoyed others who felt like laughing. People enjoy having a good time together.
Norman Cousins, former editor of Saturday Review, experienced a serious illness and discovered for himself what humor can do for one's spirit.
Later, he wrote about it and gave lectures about how laughter can help a person in times of recovery from illness and depression.
We think of all those people whose humorous speaking and writing have blessed us all. Mark Twain was our first American classical humorist. More recently, Will Rogers was a favorite in his time. It is said that Rogers made even President Calvin Coolidge, noted for his glumness, enjoy laughing at Will's jokes.
Many comedians we could name, like Red Skelton, Jack Benny, Fred Allen, and the famous redhead comedienne of television fame, Lucille Ball, all have made life more endurable.
A little girl was reported to have asked her mother, "Will Red Skelton go to Heaven when he dies?"
The mother answered, "I suppose so."
The child said, "Won't God laugh!"
In the give and take of general conversation, humor often comes naturally, as we account the events of the day, some of which could have been downright funny.
One of the most popular features of the daily newspaper is the comics page. There we meet Dennis the Menace, Peanuts, Blondie and Dagwood, and The Family Circus.
This world would be a sad place if we couldn't enjoy laughter and see the humorous side of life. We need more of it.
One has only to listen to a small child bubbling over with joy to understand how natural it can be to laugh.
Surely part of our praise to Almighty God for his eternal goodness can be laughing as well as singing. The two seem to complement each other.
Proverbs says, "A merry heart is good like a medicine."
Humor can be used in various ways to clarify a spiritual problem. Though it is said that there is no biblical expression of laughter by Jesus Christ, Jesus did use irony, a form of humor. In the story of the woman who had been caught in adultery, she had been brought to Jesus for his condemnation. When Jesus said, "Anyone among you who is without sin, be the first to throw a stone at her" (John 8:7 NRSV), no one cast a stone! We smile at that.
We also know that Jesus enjoyed festive occasions, and at such times there is always harmless banter, person to person, with laughter following. If he did not laugh, Jesus must have enjoyed others who felt like laughing. People enjoy having a good time together.
Norman Cousins, former editor of Saturday Review, experienced a serious illness and discovered for himself what humor can do for one's spirit.
Later, he wrote about it and gave lectures about how laughter can help a person in times of recovery from illness and depression.
We think of all those people whose humorous speaking and writing have blessed us all. Mark Twain was our first American classical humorist. More recently, Will Rogers was a favorite in his time. It is said that Rogers made even President Calvin Coolidge, noted for his glumness, enjoy laughing at Will's jokes.
Many comedians we could name, like Red Skelton, Jack Benny, Fred Allen, and the famous redhead comedienne of television fame, Lucille Ball, all have made life more endurable.
A little girl was reported to have asked her mother, "Will Red Skelton go to Heaven when he dies?"
The mother answered, "I suppose so."
The child said, "Won't God laugh!"
In the give and take of general conversation, humor often comes naturally, as we account the events of the day, some of which could have been downright funny.
One of the most popular features of the daily newspaper is the comics page. There we meet Dennis the Menace, Peanuts, Blondie and Dagwood, and The Family Circus.
This world would be a sad place if we couldn't enjoy laughter and see the humorous side of life. We need more of it.
