The Giggle Loop… Hello Hump Day readers. Today is National Laugh Day. It has been around since the 1930’s but in 2020 the decision was to make it a National Laugh Day on March 19 on the calendar. When I saw this it reminded me of where laughter came from–God! I’ve got a few interesting things about laughter and spirituality so let’s dig into this and laugh when needed!

Kirsten Bell, an Australian social anthropologist has studied laughter for many years because, when she was little she tended to fall into bouts of uncontrollable laughter. Her parents called her “Giggling Gertie” which she is still called today. In her studies on uncontrollable laughing, she found that it was quite natural and called the study “The Giggle Loop.” She says: “The central feature of laughter is aspiration; we release a forceful puff of air as we laugh. It is good for our lungs, our mind, our heart and our well-being. In the end, it’s clear that laughter is a deeply curious thing.”

I love G.K. Chesterton’s explanation about how this laughter of joy is necessary: “Life is serious all the time but living cannot be. You may have all the solemnity you wish in choosing your neckties, but in anything important such as death, sex, and religion, you must have mirth or you will have madness.”

Actually, laughter is a reward of humility and utter dependence upon God. It descends like rain upon a parched heart. Condemnation doesn’t shower people with a sense of humor but those rich, well-fed, stiff-necked souls certainly do! No wonder the Apostle Paul warns against foolish laughter that hurts others, yet he also commands us to “Rejoice! And again I say, rejoice!” He calls forth the heart to sing out with gratitude and laughter.

Here’s a few lessons of Laughter:
1) Habits of humor require an encounter with the God of laughter. So, seek and enjoy God and God’s people. 2) Be like the saints who have seen God’s grace interrupting their lives, who take time to give thanks for a meal, or a conversation with a friend, or a kiss from their spouse. 3) Read and listen to those who display the gladness and joy of God in what they write and speak. 4) Don’t take yourself so seriously. Remember that the opposite of serious is not comic, but trivial; and the opposite of comic is tragic. 5) Laughter lowers the body’s level of cortisol–the stress hormone. 6) Your facial and abdominal muscles get a workout every time you laugh. 7) For many people, laughter soon after waking up has the invigorating effects of a cup of coffee. Now that’s what I like, laughter and coffee, yummy!

Professor Terry Lindall, from the C.S. Lewis Institute, wrote the book Surprised By Laughter: The Comic World of C.S. Lewis. I’ve read it many times–especially in those times when I don’t feel like laughing. I recommend the book to anyone! He says:

Joy is the laughter of heaven, the secret of the Christian life. Woven out of sorrow and woe, from the crucibles of suffering, absence, and separation, comes the deep, abiding laughter of joy, without tears, promising health, wholeness, and reunion. The place of humor and laughter in the Christian journey can lead one down the broad path of destruction, or it can lead up to the pleasure of God. One remembers that the Westminster Catechism defines the chief end of man as being “to glorify God and to enjoy Him forever.”

In closing, I have a question for you and me: “how many of us have actually enjoyed God today?” AMEN.