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Mirth not Mylanta

By Staff | Sep 21, 2010

On Wednesday, Sept. 15, members from my congregation held a surprise birthday party at El Tropical Restaurant. The staff sang “Happy Birthday” and then the comments began: “Don’t worry, Roger, old age isn’t so bad when you consider the alternative.” “Remember you might be older than you’ve been before…but you’re also younger than you’ll ever be again!” “I don’t know whether to say condolences or congratulations.” I suppose now we can’t call you after 8 p.m.

Reflecting on our night of laughter I remembered reading a USA Today report that children laugh an average of 400 times a day while adults laugh 15 times a day. If anything, that latter number seems high to me. I know a few folks who apparently haven’t laughed since the Truman administration. But then again life is hard and no one gets a free ride and perhaps some people think that laughter is a sign that you don’t take life seriously enough.

So, why do children laugh so much? I think it’s because no one has told them not to. They laugh because they haven’t yet learned to doubt everything they hear and see. The world still amazes them. Watch a child long enough and you’ll see him giggle over a ladybug and clap his hands with glee watching a frog leap or a rabbit hop.

I read a bumper sticker that said: “Angels fly because they take themselves lightly and God seriously.” Our problem is the exact opposite. We take ourselves so seriously (I wonder who the next governor will be?) that we don’t have time to laugh at anything. We get so wrapped up in our own affairs that we forget that God is God and we’re not. Children have no problem taking God seriously, which is why Jesus said: “you need the faith of child to enter the kingdom of heaven” (Lk. 18:17).

It should also be mentioned that laughter is good for the body as well as the soul. Dr. Lee Berk of the Loma Linda School of Medicine says that laughter plays a role in promoting good health. Therefore, if you want to live longer, die laughing.” As Solomon wrote: “A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones” (Prov. 17:22). Therefore, start laughing more and start giving people you meet mirth so they can stop with the Mylanta.