Holy Laughter

I once heard about the great boxer Mohammed Ali. Just before takeoff on an airline flight, the attendant reminded Ali to fasten his seatbelt. “Superman don’t need no seatbelt,” he replied. The attendant replied, ”Superman don’t need no airplane either.” Ali fastened his belt.

A little humor goes a long way!

Studies also show that bouts of laughter can boost the immune system, relax muscles, aid circulation, and protect against heart disease. Laughter can also lower anxiety, improve mood, foster resilience, and help us through stressful times. I’ve heard it said that laughter is a reset button for your soul. Ethel Barrymore said: “You grow up when you get your first good laugh… at yourself.”

Here’s something else. Good humor and faith are connected. Reinhold Niebuhr, one of the great theologians of the twentieth century, explained it like this:

“Humor is concerned with the immediate incongruities of life, and faith with the ultimate ones…. Laughter is our reaction to immediate incongruities and those which do not affect us essentially. Faith is the only possible response to the ultimate incongruities of existence which threaten the very meaning of life…. Humor is, in fact, a prelude to faith; and laughter is the beginning of prayer.”

When at a very old age, Sarah was told she would conceive and give birth to a child, she laughed. (Genesis 18) But there is more.

Rev. King Duncan once wrote: “Listen for the laughter that can be heard from the very moment of creation—from the first movement of the Spirit over the waters of the deep, the first burst of light, the first baby’s cry and God’s word that it is all good. Listen for the sounds of joy which overcome the shouts of fear. Listen for the echoes of hope which can be heard even in the face of discouragement and doubt and despair. Listen for the laughter of the Savior ringing from an empty tomb who says: ‘My joy will be in you and your joy will be full.’ Listen…”

I don’t know what struggles you may be facing; what burdens you might be carrying; what promises of God you might want to embrace – but for whatever reason cannot. But I do pray, that like Sarah, you could face them with laughter.

Let us pray: Holy God, Open our hearts to the joy that you’ve promised that even in the darkest of times we might laugh with people of faith across the ages. May we join our laughter with the laughter of death overcome by resurrection and new life. And as we do O God, may we recognize that even though the darkness still exists, it is shot through with light. And may that grace and laughter and joy inspire us anew. We ask in Jesus’s name. Amen.