Hello God, it's me, Mara

The joy of laughter

You know, Lord, February is a busy month: Ground Hog’s Day, Candlemas Day — or the Feast of Presentation of the Lord, on Feb. 2 every year. Of course, we have Valentine’s Day with flowers, poems, chocolates and laughter.

A long while ago someone shared a blurb about the Joy of Laughter by Harleigh M. Rosenberger. It goes like this:

“Laughter is good medicine, especially when you can laugh at yourself. I read of a man who used to remind his friends, ‘Remember Rule Number Four.’ When they asked what it was, he would reply, ‘Don’t take yourself too seriously.’  Inevitably they would ask, ‘But what are the other three rules?’ to which he would respond. ‘There are no other rules — only Number Four.’

It is said that during the tense days of the Civil War, Abraham Lincoln called the members of his Cabinet together and began to read aloud from a book by the humorist, Artemus Ward, chuckling to himself. The Cabinet members were shocked.

Why had the president drawn them from their heavy responsibilities to read them funny stories? Finally, Lincoln said, “Gentlemen, why don’t you laugh? With the fearful strain on me I should die if I did not laugh occasionally. You need this medicine as much as I.”

“Once I was invited to a dinner to honor a prominent man. He spoke of many meetings he attended where negotiations took place. Often tensions ran high. I asked, “How do you maintain your Equilibrium?” He smiled and showed me a small firecracker, saying, “Whenever I grow tense, I finger this and wonder how these men would jump if I lighted it and tossed it under the table. The thought of the scene relaxes me.”

So — there we have it! We read in Job 8:21: “He will yet fill thy mouth with laughing, and thy lips with rejoicing.” Thank You, Lord for laughter!

Love, Mara