A joyful heart is good medicine, But a broken spirit dries up the bones. Proverbs 17:22

Have you ever seen someone sitting together in a restaurant and they look like they never ever laugh? I was blessed enough to have been raised in a household where laughter was always present. I truly believe it is one of the best gifts a parent can pass onto a child. My Dad and I were notorious for getting in trouble for laughing when we weren’t supposed to. My Mom used to separate us in church. Invariably we would see the same exact thing and that would start an avalanche of uncontrollable laughter. We went to a very somber Baptist church. I think they really thought laughter was a sin, and especially laughing in church.

The church I attend now actually sometimes uses props and videos from comedians…I can appreciate that.

There is plenty to be serious about these days. But there are plenty of things to laugh at as well, just look around! Elaine and I laugh at something just about every day, though sometimes she thinks my slapstick humor is a bit sick. I can’t help it if I think it’s funny when people fall down or trip over carpets. Of course only if someone doesn’t get hurt. I figure if someone is doing a stunt on their own volition, then I have the right to laugh at them. Hey, I laugh when I fall down too. Let’s face it, Charlie Chaplin didn’t get to be a star because he shot out one liners, but because he fell a lot.

Humor is a gift from God, to be sure. To be able to laugh at ourselves means you can shrug off the stuff that you shouldn’t waste time on, so that you can take the really big stuff that happens seriously enough to be able to get through it with grace and God’s help.

My folks have been married for 62 years are still laughing. I called them from work the other day and they were just coming home from having the car fixed. Instead of their Minivan they were in the old Bronco. My Mom had nothing to hold onto to get in the car so my Dad was trying to push her from behind. He was laughing, and I could hear her in the background, “just get your hands off me, I can get in just fine.”  Then I heard her start to laugh.

They both started laughing so hard they had to hang up.

Many people in the Bible laughed, and there are even references about God laughing. I think Jesus must have found humor in many things on this earth. I love to think what His laughter sounded like. Laughter is the best gift…….I challenge you to find something funny today, I can almost guarantee you will.

Reposted from 2010