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by Ralph Heynen W hen people sink into the gloom of a depression, and feel the awful despondency which this illness can give, they often think that they will never laugh again. But as they recover they soon begin to smile again, and in due time the merry ring of laughter is heard from their rooms. Laughter is a sign of health. One of the marks of Christian mental health is a good sense of humor. God gave man the power to weep, but also the gift of mirth. We can catch the emotional response of the gloom of life, but also the humor of life. There were times when people thought that a Christian should not laugh. Crudens, the noted author of the Concordance of the Bible, wrote, “To laugh is to be merry in a sinful manner.” That was in 1769. Unfortunately there are still people today who seem to have that feeling. There are those who think, and even say, “What is there to laugh about today?” With rumors of war, atomic bombs, juvenile delinquency and great apostasy, they feel there is no room for mirth. But the lack of ability to find humor in life is a sign of poor mental health. My father was a stern prophet of God in the pulpit, but one of the fondest memories I have of him is the ring of his hearty laughter. I can well recall other leaders of our church in days gone by, who would visit our home, and there always was a good deal of enjoyment and mirth. But there is much that passes for humor that is ir reverent, or cynical, or possibly even suggestive. I like the definition which Macaulay gives us, “Humor is mirth consistent with tender compassion for all that is frail, and with a profound reverence for all that is sublime. If we are to see life as it is, we must see the great and solemn truths which come to us, but we must also see the lighter touches of life. He who has never smiled at the antics of a monkey or of a kitten or a puppy has lost touch with certain basic realities of life.” A sense of humor is a very interesting psychological study. There are certain things that seem funny to one person, but not to another. Some people find “Yankee- Dutch” readings very amusing; personally I find them rather dull. It would be interesting to discover why this is so. Here each person has a right to his own feelings. But we must see to it that our humor is clean and free from any trace of irreverence. It should not be an ex pression of malice. I see nothing funny in jokes that in volve psychotic patients, nor do I like humor which con
cerns excessive drinking. These areas of life are so tinged with tragedy that humorous stories about them are always off-color. On the other hand we must beware lest we take ourselves so seriously that we feel offended when people laugh at us. There are people that can laugh heartily when the joke is at the expense of others, but they cannot take a joke in which they are involved. Such people are too easily threatened. They are like a child who makes a mistake and then, instead of laughing at his mistake, begins to cry. They feel that they have failed,, and their ego is threatened. Such people have feelings of insecurity. God gave us humor, and we must use it as an outlet for our emotions. How often the irritations of life can be resolved in moments of cheer and pleasantry. Frequently tensions in a consistory meeting or a synodical gathering are broken when there is a burst of laughter. Tensions in a home can also be broken in the same way. Often the tensions in our own hearts can be resolved, if we could sit down and laugh at ourselves a bit more. Surely, humor characterized the ministry of Jesus. 1 can imagine that His audience broke into laughter when He told about the man swallowing a camel, or when He pictured the man with a beam sticking out of his eye while he was trying to pluck a little speck out of his neighbor’s eye. I would find it impossible to think of Jesus as being truly human, if we would exclude laughter from His life. He was the man of sorrows, but there was also a healthy laughter that bubbled up from the deep sense of joy in His soul. And, after all, who has more right to humor than the Christian? The man of the world may laugh, but it is a hollow laughter, shallow and empty. The Christian however, has a deep fountain of joy, which still runs clear and full when the cisterns of this world have run dry. He has a humor which only his faith makes possible. We all long for a victorious faith. One of the in gredients of that perspective of life is the ability to smile, even when the going is a bit rough. Our Lord said in one of the darkest moments of His life, “ Be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.” He had the sorrows of the world on His heart, but He had the joy of heaven in His soul. This is also what Solomon had in mind when he tells us that “ A cheerful heart is a good medicine” (Proverbs 17:22). For some people I know, it is the best medicine. For humor is one of the important allies of faith. Reprinted by permission Baker Book House THE KING'S BUSINESS
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