Laughter- a key to good health?

Eclessiastes 3:4

"There is a time to weep, and a time to laugh;
A time to mourn and a time to dance."

My wife and I were discussing the importance of laughter yesterday. She was reading an article about the link between laughter and heart disease. Medical research shows that you cut your chance of heart disease by 40% if you laugh often- March 2005 University of Maryland study.

We are drawn to joyful people, aren't we? Some people see the rainbow in the storm; others see only the clouds. Bitter, angry, resentful people wear on us like a steady leaking faucet. I believe there is a strong connection between stewardship and laughter. A steward is a person who is able to relinquish control. He/she realizes that ownership belongs to God alone. Our breath, money, abilities, time and health are in God's control.

An understanding that we are merely managers of God's resources allows us to travel light on this earthly pilgrimage. It allows us to be content and to always ask the question: why me? Why do I deserve so many good things from you, my God? It allows us to laugh at ourselves because we are not as important as we often think. There is a lot of humor in every day life if are eyes are open to it.

One of the many things I love about my wife- Amy- is her sense of humor. We have always laughed a lot in our marriage. Communication has never been a problem for us- sometimes overcommunication is, but that's another story. When God blessed us with our son- Hudson- the laughter has accelerated. Our two year-old does and says things daily that cause us to laugh so hard, it brings us to tears.

I met a guy who had read my book Stewardship Mandate without having known me prior. His impression in reading the book was that I was some serious minded guy that never smiled. I can understand due to the serious nature of the content of that book why he might get that impression. But those who know me, know that I love to laugh. Almost to the point where I am a goofball.

I encourage us to seek laughter daily. It is good for the heart. It is good for the soul. I believe we will be shocked at the laughter and joy that awaits the believer in Heaven. I suspect we will be equally shocked to see the misery and the lack of laughter in hell. Billy Joel had it wrong. We will not want to rather laugh with the sinners than cry with the saints. The sinners will not be much more fun. That may be a commentary on religion as Billy Joel saw it when he wrote Only the Good Die Young, but it is a bad map.

Of course, not all laughter is good. Proverbs 14:12-13, "There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death. Even in laughter, the heart may ache, and the end of joy may be grief." I think back to my freshman year at Baylor University. The guy on my hall that seemed to laugh the most, committed suicide that year. There was obviously not true joy in his heart. And there is nothing funny about an eternity apart from God. So we need to always temper our laughter with the seriousness of life.

There is a time for seriousness. There is a time for laughter. God ordains all these things for our continued progress in faith. He gives us a glimpse of a day when the laughter will never cease and the motives for it will be pure.

For His glory,

Ashley Hodge