Is there a more beautiful, more disarming sound than the innocence of little kids giggling, inviting us to lighten up and rediscover happiness in simple things.
“A happy heart is good medicine”, says an old proverb, now backed by medical research.
Happiness prompts our brains to release dopamine to enhance enjoyment, and endorphins to relieve pain and stress.
And even more effectively if – like little kids – we also find it hard to stop.
Effective punchlines work by suddenly linking ideas that seem confusing or contradictory, and they work best as a climax.
For whoever laughs last, laughs best – unless they have missed the joke.
If comedian Ugly Dave Gray’s jokes ever fell flat, he cleverly invited his audience to enjoy “the miracle of a simultaneous mix of tragedy and comedy!”
Which shows that it helps to laugh at ourselves, before others start laughing at us less warmly.
Comedian Red Skelton saw humor as a bridge for everyone to laugh, so nobody would feel left out.
Sadly, much of today’s humor shrinks that scope, promoting ‘adult themes’ as a cover for foul language, sarcasm or ridicule that aims more at shock value than real entertainment.
I can’t help but wonder how much the people who present this material would handle having it aimed at them.
We may often find our loudest laughs coming from hearing others’ experiences, or from sharing our own, of narrow escapes from the scariest of episodes.
For like music, laughter is a wordless, universal language that lifts us from within and helps us to see beyond all the negatives – of external pressures or inner voices – that push us towards giving up too early.
Classic humor rises from reflecting on personal or social hard times and proving that we can outlast them.
Many career comedians have gone through levels of hardship that we can barely imagine.
BBC Radio’s legendary Goon Show was a clear example, as it sprung from Spike Milligan’s wartime years, recalling the funny and at times farcical side of military mindsets when everyone was under pressure from having so much at stake and nothing was certain.
We may never venture into careers in comedy, but it is worth accepting God’s offer of grace and guidance, right through to death and beyond.
For by taking him more seriously than we take ourselves, we can help people around us to also let go and lighten up.
Noel Mitaxa
On behalf of a church near you, inviting you to explore God’s love
