When I was a pastor, I was invited to lunch by the parish’s ladies group. The group gave me a Christmas present. At the presentation, one of the group’s leaders told a joke as she presented my present.
Then I foolishly tried to match her joke. As I began, the ladies started laughing long before I got to the punch line. Then, I discovered why. When I told the joke, I forgot that I had a half cup of coffee in my hand. As I gestured, I spilled coffee on the leader’s beautiful Christmas blouse. Providently, the group’s Christmas gift to me was a book on humor. Their leader must have read it, for she had a sense of humor.
Years later, she sent me a Christmas card with some money and a note that read, “Have a cup of coffee on me.” I thanked her and wrote that I already had a cup of (spilled) coffee on her. Sharing coffee can invite laughter and humor.
M. Conrad Hyers, a minister who taught at Beloit College, wrote a book entitled Holy Laughter. In his book, he wrote that Gilbert Keith Chesterton said that Satan fell because of the gravity of his weight. He took himself too seriously and thought that he was equal to God.
Not to take ourselves too seriously
God created us with a sense of humor so we do not take ourselves too seriously. We, humans, are reputed to be God’s only creatures with risibility or the ability to laugh. Without a healthy sense of humor, there would be much more violence in a world where there is already too much.
Mother Teresa of Calcutta encouraged laughter and humor when her Sisters cared for the sick and dying. She said that the greatest disease in the West is not TB or leprosy; it is being unwanted, unloved, and uncared for. We can cure physical diseases with medicine, but the only cure for loneliness, despair, and hopelessness is God’s medicine of love.
During the coronavirus pandemic, people are often confined which can lead to stress. A healthy sense of humor can help relieve some stress. Lockdowns can lead to cabin bever (also called stir-crazy, from the use of stir to mean “prison”). Cabin fever is a claustrophobic reaction, manifested as extreme irritability and restlessness, that takes place when a person or group ends up in an isolated or solitary location or is stuck indoors in confined quarters for an extended period of time (such Covid isolation is sometimes necessary).
Helps connect us with others
Humor can keep us from falling to pieces and help us connect with others. Some of us may have worked at a job that makes us feel frustrated and stressed out. Then, we took a break and laughed at the absurdity of the situation. We returned to work with renewed energy.
Humor helps us to stay serious. It keeps us from becoming stressed out and helps us to work fruitfully. My dad’s humor helped him to work at the same job for 40 years.
Monica and Bill Dodds, a married couple, once wrote a column which the Catholic Herald carried.
They wrote that humor is at the core of what binds couples together as family, siblings, and friends.
They believed that when family members share a happy and holy relationship then laughter and joy, a fruit of the Spirit, is there.
Research shows that laughter releases endorphins which can lead to good health.
Through the centuries many Christians were persons of joy and humor. Some non-believers in God see life as a dead-end street with no exit and grimly try to squeeze everything they can from life.
Conversely, committed Christians believe there is life after death. They see the incongruity between the way things are and the ways God wants them to be. Sometimes that incongruity causes them to laugh.
Josh Billings wrote, “There is no humor in medicine, but healthy humor is good medicine.”
Friends help keep our sense of humor
Friends with whom we joke and have fun help us to keep our sense of humor. My dentist jokes a lot which helps to relax his patients, especially me. Fulton Sheen began his talks by telling jokes to prepare his listeners to receive his serious message.
Bill Kelly wrote, “After God created earth, He created man and woman. Then, to keep the whole thing from collapsing, He created humor.”
Tenseness can affect our relationship with God, family, friends, and fellow workers. It can fixate us on ourselves, on our failures and disappointments, and bring out our worst side.
In Proverbs 17:22, it says, “A happy heart is good medicine and a joyful mind causes healing; a broken spirit dries up the bones.” God gave us a sense of humor. Let us use it or we may lose one of God’s most precious gifts which we and others need today!
Fr. Donald Lange is a pastor emeritus in the Diocese of Madison.