Laughter God's Gift to Humanity

10 Mashiyyat 162 B.E. October 5-6, 2005 A.D.

I have come to realize that laughter is one of God's gifts to humanity. I have found, at least in my own life, that laughter helps me to look at life a bit more clearly. I sometimes have a tendency to be slightly depressed and when I laugh the depression goes away. I laugh at different things at different times, so precisely what makes me laugh is not always clear.

I also found in the past few months that I have had a tendency toward hysterical laughter. I define hysterical laughter as laughing at something that does not appear, and under ordinary conditions would not be, funny. An example is getting a power bill that tells you the power company is going to turn off your electricity in a few days. This particular incident happened to me several months ago. I picked the power bill up and starting laughing. OK, the idea of having your electricity turned off probably was not funny, but everything had been piling up and this was just one more thing. Instead of setting down and crying (which would probably be a normal reaction) I laughed.

Of course, with me, this reaction may not be unusual. Under normal condition I have a slightly off beat sense of humor. Lately I have been finding that if I laugh, especially at myself, my life goes better. That gives me two things that make life go better - prayer and laughter.