From The Pastor’s Pen – By Brian Horrobin
I just love it when she laughs!
It happened again recently.
I came in from some grocery shopping and there was Ruth, chatting away on the phone with her younger sister, Sarah.
Sarah and her family live in Calgary, Alberta so we don’t see them much and phone time is the main contact Ruth has with her sister.
I don’t know what it was they were talking about, but all of a sudden I saw the signs.
Ruth’s cheeks flushed with colour, a wide grin began to creep across her face and then came that signature outburst that I have come to love so much.
I’m not really sure why, but Ruth’s laugh makes me feel so good!
Let’s face it, if we were to judge our world by the record of the nightly news we would have to conclude that we live pretty joyless lives.
Heartache and misery trump the ‘feel good’ anecdotes of our twenty-first century existence, or so it seems.
I can remember a woman in a previous ministry that had a dour expression on her face every time I saw her.
Week after week I would see her in the pew looking like it was an endurance contest to be in church.
She would claim that she had the joy of the Lord, but I always wondered why her heart never told her face!
Ironically, her husband was quite upbeat and friendly.
Somewhere along the line we have forgotten the blessing of laughter.
The Bible addresses the benefits of laughter and joy, as recorded in Proverbs 17:22: “A joyful heart is good medicine, but a broken spirit dries up the bones.”
There is quite a contrast here in the original Hebrew meaning in this verse.
Whereas laughter, or a joyful heart “causes good healing” (literally), sadness, despair, brokenness, etc., brings dryness.
The word there speaks of vegetation that has lost necessary moisture.
Folks, we are in a soul drought if I have ever seen one!
If I’m having one of those days, all it takes for me to come out of it is to see my wife laughing.
A dozen Laurel and Hardy movies couldn’t give me the same buzz, honestly!
So, wherever you are today and whatever you are doing, take some time to laugh.
Rent a funny movie with your family or just play with the kids (yours or someone else’s!).
Laughter is the medicine that cures the drudgery of the ordinary and lifts the spirit in a time of soul dryness.
Who knows, maybe your laughter is what someone else needs to get their joy ignited!
