Laughter that is good for the soul

(12/2/10) What does that look like? In the circle of stoic Christians, laughter can be almost non-existent or forced humor can look like a bad case of locked bowels. Surely it’s okay to have fun especially during this joyous season of celebration, which too often can turn stressful. But how? For me, it’s not too hard because I’m married to a comic. My older brother with his droll personality and his sometimes dry and always off the wall sense of humor with an uncanny sense of timing is also humorous----and that’s putting it mildly. Anyone who prefaces his questions with, “What in the tarnation….?? is witty in my book. Put the two of them together and life becomes “wet your pants” funny. But, they’re rarely together.

Most of you might not have folks like that in your life so you have to “look” else where, especially when life situations aren’t offering too much to laugh at or joke about. Big brother solved that for his wife, Charlotte, and me and my amigas, Gigi and Bonnie. He treated us to a comical feast---an evening with “laugh out loud funny,” Anita Renfroe. Renfroe helped us laugh at our belly rolls, our jigglies, our mammogram experiences, our hubby’s snoring and everyone’s bad breath. It wasn’t raunchy.
It was good, clean laugh at yourself entertainment. It blessed me beyond measure. I continue to remember tidbits and smile when I think about them. She’s a former Baptist preacher’s wife (former b/c he’s now her manager) so her humor not only brings out the deep belly laughs, but it goes right to the soul.

All the days of the oppressed are wretched, but the cheerful heart has a continual feast. (Proverbs 15:15)