Heavenly Humor

"He who sits in the heavens shall laugh!"
Psalm 2:4

For the past week or so, I have come to realize that I have taken things, situations, circumstances, and even people, a little too seriously. That I haven't been smiling/laughing enough. As I was reading my devotional book, I came across a particular one I would like to share with you.

It asks the question: Is laughter theologically correct?

We rarely think of a knee-slapping, rib-tickling, belly laugh when we think of being spiritual. But is that God's perspective?

In Umberto Eco's novel The Name of the Rose, a villainous monk named Jorge poisoned anyone who came upon the one book in the monastery library that suggested that God laughed. Jorge feared if the monks though God laughed, He would become too familiar to them, too common, and they would lose their awe of Him. Jorge probably never considered the idea that laughter is one of the things that sets us apart as made in God's image.

In Spiritual Fitness, Doris Donnelly tells us that humor has two elements; an acceptance of life's incongruities and the ability not to take ourselves too seriously. The Christian faith is filled with incongruities - the meek inherit the earth, the simple teach wisdom, death leads to life, a virgin gives birth, a king is born in a stable. Many, but not all of life's incongruities are humorous.

Humor also helps us let go of an exaggerated sense of importance to face the truth about ourselves. Anxiety over our own efforts can obscure what God is doing in our lives. "Lighten up" can be good spiritual advice!

How can we renew our sense of humor?

• Be on the lookout for humor. Almost every situation contains some element of humor in it
• Spend time with people who have a sense of humor - their perspective will be contagious.
• Practice laughing. Take a five-to-ten-minute laugh break every day.

You can benefit from laughing. Humor requests a sense of honesty about yourself - without arrogance or false humility. Humor has also been proven to be good for your health. Take time to laugh each day - it is good for the soul as well as the body!