St. Teresa of Avila prayed, "From somber, serious, sullen saints, save us, oh Lord." And I've read that in some part of Nigeria, God's name is "Father of Laughter". Augustine said, "The Christian should be an alleluia from head to foot."
Joy and laughter are mentioned numerous times in the Bible. Like it says in Proverbs, "A merry heart doeth good like a medicine...", and Jesus promised us "that my joy may be in you, and your joy may be full". (John 15:11) (And He said this when He was about to be tortured and crucified!) It's true that there are times of tears and pain, but they are things that come and go. True joy stays and adds a special dimension to Life. True joy doesn't allow things (trivial or serious) to paralyze it.
I just read this amusing hypothetical conversation of Jesus and His disciples. It's light-hearted, yet holds up a mirror in which we might see ourselves.**
Then Jesus took his disciples up the mountain...he taught them, saying:
"Blessed are the poor.
"Blessed are the hungry.
"Blessed are those who mourn.
"Blessed are the oppressed..."
Then Simon Peter said, "Do we have to write this down?"
And Andrew said, "Are we supposed to know this?"
And James said, "I don't have papyrus with me."
And Philip said, "Will we have a test on this?"
And Bartholomew said, "Do we have to turn this in?"
And John said, "The other disciples didn't have to learn this."
And Matthew said, "Can I be excused?"
And Judas said, "What does this have to do with the real world?"
Then one of the Pharisees who was present asked to see Jesus' lesson plan and inquired, "Where is your anticipatory set? Where are your objectives in the cognitive domain?"
And Jesus wept.
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Sometimes we get distracted by little details that seem so important, and we miss the point Jesus wants to get across to us. In some versions, He says, "Happy are the poor...happy are the hungry...happy are those who mourn..." And the disciples in this story seemed to be anything but happy! Too worried about things that, in the long run, weren't that important. Too preoccupied to hear the beauty and joy in what He was saying.
We tend to explain (or justify) ourselves by saying, "Well, under the circumstances..." But true joy doesn't depend on the state of our circumstances. One of my favorite sayings is: "You don't have to live 'under the circumstances'. They may never change...but you can 'live above the circumstances.'" And that's what true joy and faith should help us do. One of their fruits is healthy laughter, a gift from God, which should never be absent from our lives.
I like what St. Francis of Assisi said, "The devil is most happy when he can snatch from a servant of God true joy of the spirit...But if the joy of the spirit fills the heart, the serpent shoots his deadly venom in vain."
Thomas More, in the 1400's, wrote: "Give me, Lord, a soul that knows nothing of boredom, groans and sighs...Lord, give me a sense of humor so that I may take some happiness from this life and share it with others."
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Let's trust Him and know that...
"He will yet fill your mouth with laughter and your lips with shouts of joy." (Job 8:21)
...so we don't end up being "somber, serious, sullen saints"...
too preoccupied to hear the beauty and joy in what He says to us!
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**Taken from Holy Humor , edited by Cal and Rose Samra.
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