By Jean Mlincek

If I could give a gift to the world this Christmas, I would want to give everyone a sense of humor. I am not talking about the ability to tell jokes, or to find everything “yuck, yuck” funny. I am not wishing that everyone were a comedian the likes of Robin Williams, Archie Bunker, or Laurel and Hardy. No I am referring to something more poignant.

Back in the early 1970s, Jamie Owens Collins, a Christian singer, recorded a song which had the title “Laughter in My Soul.” That kind of laughter is a joy unspeakable. Family and friends have always found my laugh infectious. I think my laugh is the real me– an ecstatic, joyful rhythm announcing, “This is Jean, without inhibitions, shame, insecurity, or hindrances.” Laughter is a spiritual resource, a healing dynamic that still leaves me in a state of wonder as to its unfathomable, inexhaustible energy. It is a gift from God. I don’t know how I would have survived some of my dark times without a source of joy that has an inward source. It is the only part of me that I have not been able to repress, hide, or hold in check. I am very emotional, for example, but there have been countless times I have stifled sobs, checked my tears, muzzled strong feelings, repressed truth. One simply cannot quell laughter that surfaces from one’s very core with glorious spontaneity and unfettered freedom.

My laughter makes me a physician of my own physical, spiritual, and mental well-being. I cherish my God-given gift of gladness. The Bible says that laughter is a good medicine. It is the opposite of a crushed spirit, which, according to Scripture, dries up the bones, with “bones“ representing the whole person.

The Bible notes that it is God who fills our mouth with laughter and our lips with shouts of joy (Job 8:21). We sometimes forget that we cannot conjure up joy. Laughter in one’s soul is not a carefree attitude towards life. It is an inward celebration of all that is true, pure, lovely, and a good report (Philippians 4:8).

I cry at weddings. Always. Because I am sad? Absolutely not. I have no control over this response. This is joy in my soul. It just arises of its own free will and I could not struggle against it even if I would want to. Joy loves mingling with joy. Think of Jesus’ very first miracle. He didn’t open the eyes of the blind. He did not make the lame to walk. No, He brought joy to where joy already abounded. Think about that.

If the eyes are the windows of the soul, laughter is its voice. Joy in one’s soul is simply incompatible with anything negative, be it anger, depression, hatred, hopelessness. What do most parents do when an infant is irritable, or scared, or not feeling well? They try to make that infant laugh. The immediate change in that infant’s face tells the power of laughter. You have all this negative stuff, yet once you get that infant laughing, it is as if the negative world does not exist.

Christmas is the time when we celebrate the gift of the baby Jesus. It should also be the time to rejoice in the incomparable gift of laughter.

Jean Mlincek is a freelance writer who resides in St. Petersburg, Florida

https://todayssenioramerica.org/by-jean-mlincek-rejoice-in-the-god-given-gift-of-laughter-p378-149.htm