Is COMEDIcatisons just a cutesy word to get attention? Is using humor for health purposes just a gimmick- a psychological trick? Is laughter/funny-stuff just a temporary uplift?- an emotional shot to help forget for a while?
“Medication” immediately conjures up pills, potions, shots and sedations. Let’s get literal: Medicinal- “having the properties of curing, healing or relieving.” Let’s get not-so-literal: we do say: “Laughter is the Best Medicine.” (Reader’s Digest) So, getting “attention”, a psychological jolt, a spirit uplift, or an emotional shot might be good enough.
HOWEVER, and that’s a big ‘however’, there’s much MORE! Last month’s expression about “humor and health” was based on scintillating sources as well as experience, but don’t just take my word for it. Here’s a summary statement from a study source:
Laughter is a powerful antidote to stress, pain, and conflict. Nothing works faster or more dependably to bring your mind and body back into balance than a good laugh. Humor lightens your burdens, inspires hopes, connects you to others, and keeps you grounded, focused, and alert.
With so much power to heal and renew, the ability to laugh easily and frequently is a tremendous resource for surmounting problems, enhancing your relationships, and supporting both physical and emotional health.
OR THIS ONE: Humor is infectious. The sound of roaring laughter is far more contagious than any cough, sniffle, or sneeze. When laughter is shared, it binds people together and increases happiness and intimacy. Laughter also triggers healthy physical changes in the body. Humor and laughter strengthen your immune system, boost your energy, diminish pain, and protect you from the damaging effects of stress. Best of all, this priceless medicine is fun, free, and easy to use.
The Health Ministry bulletin board in May will feature humor from the “The Gospel According to Peanuts”- both Charles Schulz and Robert Short certainly believed that a spoonful of humor helps the lessons of spiritual life go down. “The Parables of Peanuts” will also be on the table below the bulletin board and inhabit the shelves below afterwards.
ALSO, below the bulletin board you’ll find two separate pick-up sheets: one will elaborate on the understanding of Humor and Health; the other will give further resources and practical help in making Humor a real, Spirit-anointed part of growth in our faith-lives.
Don’t we love humor in church? Well, back some years a group of seminary students visited an evening service of an area church. It was an assignment to experience preachers with different styles and approaches; this preacher was known for his very pious emphases. During the pastoral prayer he expressed, “Oh God, give us a feeling heart!” However, he got the first letter of the last two words mixed up! The seminarians’ pew quivered with choked-off laughter- which broke loose in the car heading home. They were relaxed and balanced all week.
~Earl Laman, Health Ministry member