Some studies have shown that laughter has the following benefits:

1) Lowers blood pressure
2) Boosts immune system
3) Reduces stress hormones
4) Triggers a release of endorphins, which are our body's natural pain killers

Laughter also helps get us past negative emotions like guilt, stress, fear, etc. Hospitals have found laugh therapy to have a lot of benefits.

Another interesting fact is that children naturally laugh more than adults. A lot more than adults. Pre-school children laugh ~400 times a day on average, while adults laugh 15-17 times a day on average. (It seems a lot of us could learn something from children!)

From my view, it seems our bodies were designed to enjoy a good amount of laughter each day. It also seems as we get older, we loose our sense of humor for some reason.

I think somewhere in the Psalms there is a reference to how laughter does a man good like medicine.

The concept that laughter has health benifits is pretty much a universal belief in ancient cultures.

Personally, there have been times in my life where it was partially a survival mechanism. Because I could laugh about what was going on, it helped me endure it.

Laughter makes my life much more pleasant.

Sooooo? Say something funny, already!

That is why I have magic tricks and other toys in my office (I do not see children, only adults).

By the way, all of you can ES.

I also teach a 3 hour class at Collin County Community College in Plano on "Using Humor in Therapy."

all we do is goof around and watch videos and laugh.

pg: I laughed. And I have toys in my office, too.

I'm always laughing!

I have no toys in my office, in fact, I don't have an office. But, I have about 30 high school kids per class that keep me laughing of and on all day long.

And, may I add....

ES

and then some more.

[This message has been edited by The Lone Stranger (edited 1/5/2012 12:58p).]

Cyprian,
I can tell you this from my own experience. There is an ignorant joy and bliss in life in ones youth. Then there is adult life, responsibilities, all of the realities of the world set in, and people do change. Disappointments, difficult relationships, financial struggles. Often a general unhappiness, or a stoic always worried determination sets in.

Some people freak out, and have outbursts, some people get angry, others have the suppressed anger of depression. Friends, family and loved ones dying, our own bodies deteriorating, with aches, pains, illnesses that we never even thought about in our youth. So many Americans have trouble sleeping, or have to take pills for depression… Perhaps their presidential candidate was not the big savior, and uniter they thought he would be, and hopelessness sets in when everything do to with just living got more difficult under him. For many reasons people do have a harder time laughing, or just relaxing.

It reminds me of what happens in this parable, especially the bolded part:

quote:

---

Mark 4:13 And he said to them, “Do you not understand this parable? How then will you understand all the parables? 14 The sower sows the word. 15 And these are the ones along the path, where the word is sown: when they hear, Satan immediately comes and takes away the word that is sown in them. 16 And these are the ones sown on rocky ground: the ones who, when they hear the word, immediately receive it with joy. 17 And they have no root in themselves, but endure for a while; then, when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately they fall away. 18 And others are the ones sown among thorns. They are those who hear the word, 19 but the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches and the desires for other things enter in and choke the word, and it proves unfruitful. 20 But those that were sown on the good soil are the ones who hear the word and accept it and bear fruit, thirtyfold and sixtyfold and a hundredfold.”

---

We are told in the scriptures to cast our anxieties on him!

1 Peter 5:6 Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, 7 casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you.

We are told to not be anxious, but to take our needs to Him:

Philippians 4:6 do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.

We are told to set our minds on the things above, where Christ is, where we are united, and our life is hidden in Him:

Collisions 2:1 If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. 2 Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. 3 For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. 4 When Christ who is your[a] life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.

In these things a Christian can find his comfort even amidst the struggles of the world. A Christian can be joyful, even more joyful than in youth. In that, we can find peace. True peace. Because we can rest in Him, and find strength in him. And yes, we can laugh at a good many things.

NA's post about a different kind of joy/peace reminded me of this vignette from the life of Lazarus:

quote:

---

Little more is known about Lazarus after Our Lord's Resurrection and Ascension except that during his thirty year he never smiled or joked except for one occasion. One day, he saw someone stealing a clay pot and he laughed saying, "the clay steals the clay".

---

http://orthodoxwiki.org/Lazarus

This thread makes me laugh.

Just remember that you're standing on a planet that's evolving
And revolving at nine hundred miles an hour,
That's orbiting at nineteen miles a second, so it's reckoned,
A sun that is the source of all our power.
The sun and you and me and all the stars that we can see
Are moving at a million miles a day
In an outer spiral arm, at forty thousand miles an hour,
Of the galaxy we call the 'Milky Way'.
Our galaxy itself contains a hundred billion stars.
It's a hundred thousand light years side to side.
It bulges in the middle, sixteen thousand light years thick,
But out by us, it's just three thousand light years wide.
We're thirty thousand light years from galactic central point.
We go 'round every two hundred million years,
And our galaxy is only one of millions of billions
In this amazing and expanding universe.

The universe itself keeps on expanding and expanding
In all of the directions it can whizz
As fast as it can go, at the speed of light, you know,
Twelve million miles a minute, and that's the fastest speed there is.
So remember, when you're feeling very small and insecure,
How amazingly unlikely is your birth,
And pray that there's intelligent life somewhere up in space,
'Cause there's bugger all down here on Earth.

STILL no one's told a joke? (Well, except that Lazarus dude, and apparently being raised from the dead did something weird to his funny bone.)

Okay, here's one from a book I'm currently reading. Apologies if you've already heard it...

A small town barber is sitting in his shop one day. A guy comes in, thin, bearded and wearing sandals and a brown robe with a hood and asks for a haircut. The barber waves him to the chair and asks "Say, what's up with the robe?"

The man says "I'm a Franciscan friar. I'm here to help my brothers open a soup kitchen."

The barber says "I love the Franciscans! I love the story of Francis of Assisi and how he loved animals, and all the work you guys do with the poor. This haircut is free."

The Franciscan says "Oh no. We take a vow of poverty, but I can afford a haircut." But the barber insists. And the next morning when he comes to the shop, the barber finds a basket of wildflowers, and a note from the Franciscan blessing him and thanking him for the haircut.

A couple of days later the barber is at work, and a guy comes in wearing a long white robe with a leather belt and asks for a haircut. The barber waves him to the chair and asks "Say, what's up with the robe?"

The man says "I'm a Trappist monk. I'm in town to visit the doctor and thought I'd get a haircut."

The barber says "I love the Trappists! I love how your lives are so contemplative and prayerful. This haircut is free."

The Trappist says "Oh no. We take a vow of poverty, but I can afford a haircut." But the barber insists. The next morning he comes to work and finds a basket of baked goods and cheeses, made fresh in the Trappist monastery, with a note blessing him and thanking him for the haircut.

A few days later the barber is at his shop and a man comes in wearing a black suit and white collar and asks for a haircut. The barber waves him to the chair and says "Say, what's up with the black suit?"

The man says "I'm a Jesuit. We're having a theology conference in town, and I thought I'd get a haircut."

The barber says "I love the Jesuits! My kids have attended your high school, and I even went to a Jesuit retreat. This haircut is free."

The Jesuit says "Oh no. We take a vow of poverty, but I can afford a haircut." But the barber insists. The next morning he comes to work and finds 10 more Jesuits.

From "Between Heaven and Mirth: Why Joy, Humor and Laughter are the Heart of the Spiritual Life" by James Martin, SJ.
http://www.amazon.com/Between-Heaven-Mirth-Laughter-Spiritual/dp/0062024264/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1325813838&sr=1-1

EDIT: amercer beat me with a very funny poem!

[This message has been edited by Longstreet (edited 1/5/2012 7:45p).]

1) The Lord told Moses to come Forth, but Moses Came in 6th and God lost his bet.

2) First story of PMS in bible- And Mary road Joseph’s ass all the way to Egypt.

All my other jokes are too long to write

Cyprian,

I have been dealing with some medical issues of my own this past month. Your OP reminded me today to- put on George Carlin during my commute and laugh my A off.

thanks,
pg

what did kidcorn ask momcorn?





where is popcorn??????



HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

hope your medical issues are taken care of quickly pro-g!!!!!

Laughter is OK, provided that it's for the right reason ("We were laughing with you, David, not at you!" yeah, right)

I'm always reminded of the reference to the tormentor's mirth in Psalm 137.3 ...

btw,it doesn't specifically state in the NT that Jesus ever LOL, does it?