Laugh for our Health
According to the Mayo Clinic, a good sense of humor can’t cure all ailments, but data is mounting about the positive effects of laughter. A good laugh lightens our load mentally. A good laugh actually induces physical changes in our body. Laughter can stimulate organs, activate and relieve our stress response, and soothes tension. Laughter can improve our immune system, relieve pain, improve our mood, helps us cope with difficult situations, and connect with other people.
Laughter is an expression of hope and expectation in God’s salvation, deliverance, as well as His promises.
A joyful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones (Psalm 17:22, ESV).
Then our mouth was filled with laughter, and our tongue with shouts of joy; then they said among the nations, "The Lord has done great things for them" (Psalm 126:2, ESV).
Looking Behind the Mask of Laughter
Much has been said about the "tears of a clown"--the notion that every comic face masks a depressed or troubled soul. The truth is, the research is contradictory at worst and inconclusive at best.
“People think comedians have these really dark personalities, but a lot of people have dark personalities and most of them don’t become comedians. You actually have to be pretty well-adjusted to be successful in the world of entertainment because it’s so competitive,” says Peter McGraw, a psychology and marketing professor at the University of Colorado, Boulder, and author of The Humor Code: A Global Search for What Makes Things Funny.
On the other hand, research from Oxford University published earlier this year surveyed 523 comedians and compared them to a control group:
Their finding? “The creative elements needed to produce humor are strikingly similar to those characterizing the cognitive style of people with psychosis—both schizophrenia and bipolar disorder,” study author Gordon Claridge, of the University of Oxford’s Department of Experimental Psychology, told the BBC. He said comedians may use their act as a form of self-medication.
Suffice it to say that relentless jesting may not necessarily mask a deeper struggle within, but it is certainly possible that it might.
Case in point: Jamie Masada, a US comedy club pioneer, observed of his relationship with Robin Williams: "He was always in character - you never saw the real Robin. I knew him 35 years, and I never knew him."
As comedian and philosopher Ben Stein has so aptly observed, "We all wear masks, metaphorically speaking."
If Robin Williams' tragic death teaches us anything at all, it teaches that we must take the time--invest the energy--to look beyond the masks to the heart and soul of the person behind them. We mustn't assume a laughing face is indicative of a light heart. In fact, Scripture gives us this insightful warning: "Laughter can conceal a heavy heart, but when the laughter ends, the grief remains" (Proverbs 14:13, NLT).
Laughter Is Like Changing a Diaper
“Laughter is like changing a baby’s diaper—it doesn’t permanently solve any problems, but it makes things more acceptable for a while.”
Anonymous
“A joyful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones” (Proverbs 17:22).