{"id":15184,"date":"2026-03-10T11:14:05","date_gmt":"2026-03-10T11:14:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gpbookstore.org\/articles\/uncategorized\/divine-humor-how-laughter-benefits-us-spiritually\/"},"modified":"2026-04-10T05:58:58","modified_gmt":"2026-04-10T05:58:58","slug":"divine-humor-how-laughter-benefits-us-spiritually","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gpbookstore.org\/articles\/angels-and-miracles\/miracles\/gods-grace\/divine-humor-how-laughter-benefits-us-spiritually\/","title":{"rendered":"Divine Humor: How Laughter Benefits Us Spiritually"},"content":{"rendered":"

It was 45 minutes to my cousin\u2019s wedding reception in Nashville, Tennessee, and my mom was driving. I had my cousin\u2019s vanilla-frosted, two-tier wedding cake<\/a> on my lap. My mom made a sharp left turn, and the box went flying. The cake was smashed against the dashboard. Frosting was smeared all over the inside of the rental car.<\/p>\n

I glared at my mom, ready to let her have it. Then burst out laughing. Not just a few giggles. More like gut-busting laughter. Pretty soon, my mom was laughing too. Tears streamed down our cheeks; we couldn\u2019t have stopped if we tried.<\/p>\n

We made it to the reception and even managed to make the cake look somewhat presentable. Weeks later, though, I was still scratching my head over the incident. Why on earth had I laughed? The moment had been freeing, cathartic. Almost spiritual. As if the laughter was coming from deep within my soul. Could it be that my laughter wasn\u2019t just a senseless reaction to a potential disaster? But, rather, some sort of gift from God<\/a>?<\/p>\n

Curious, I brought my questions to Father James Martin<\/a>, a Catholic priest and best-selling author of My Life With the Saints<\/em>. In 2011, Father Martin wrote a book called Between Heaven and Mirth: Why Joy, Humor and Laughter Are at the Heart of the Spiritual Life<\/em>. Father Martin was dismayed that so many of the Christians he met assumed faith was strictly a solemn matter. Laughter is actually a tenet of faith<\/a>, Father Martin told me. \u201cThe endpoint of the Christian life is joy,\u201d he said. \u201cYet we don\u2019t privilege joy<\/a> as much as we do suffering.\u201d<\/p>\n

There is plenty of humor to be found in the Bible. When Nathanael<\/a> in the Gospel of John hears about Jesus, he remarks, \u201cCan anything good come from Nazareth?\u201d According to Father Martin, Nathanael is throwing shade at Nazareth, a joke lost on many modern readers.<\/p>\n

\u201cA large part of the Gospels was written to explain the Passion narrative, so we tend to focus on those stories over the ones in which Jesus was more joyful<\/a>,\u201d Father Martin says. \u201cBut the Passion was only one week of Jesus\u2019 life. Let\u2019s not forget his first miracle was to turn water into wine at a wedding celebration!\u201d<\/p>\n

That doesn\u2019t mean taking Jesus\u2019 miracles<\/a> or his messages lightly. But \u201cif you think of Jesus as always serious, then your ability to relate to him as a person of joy is limited,\u201d Father Martin says.<\/p>\n

If even Jesus knew the importance of laughter, does that mean that God actually wants us to laugh more? Yes, says Susan Sparks, author of Laugh Your Way to Grace: Reclaiming the Spiritual Power of Humor<\/em>. Sparks is a former trial lawyer turned minister and standup comedian. She says laughter is uniquely human. \u201cWe are the only creatures that really laugh,\u201d she says. \u201cAnd since we\u2019re made in the image of the divine, that must mean God laughs too.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ergo, laughter is innately spiritual.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s something fundamentally holy<\/a> about it,\u201d Sparks says. \u201cIf you can laugh at yourself, you can forgive yourself<\/a>. If you can forgive yourself, you can forgive others too.\u201d<\/p>\n

Laughter can even heal<\/a>. Sparks recalls her battle with breast cancer 10 years ago. She credits laughing with speeding up the recovery process. \u201cBeing able to laugh in a place of pain was the most powerful thing I could do to take my life back,\u201d she says. \u201cI\u2019m not sure how I was able to laugh in the middle of all that. But it was something I tapped into within myself that helped me survive.\u201d<\/p>\n

Indeed, the health benefits of humor are well-documented. Norman Cousins<\/a>, author of the groundbreaking Anatomy of an Illness as Perceived by the Patient: Reflections on Healing and Regeneration<\/em>, was one of the first to popularize the idea of laughter as medicine, in 1979. Cousins had overcome a painful battle with connective tissue disease by prescribing himself laughter. \u201cI made the joyous discovery that ten minutes of genuine belly laughter had an anesthetic effect and would give me at least two hours of pain-free sleep,\u201d he wrote.<\/p>\n

Recent scientific findings support Cousins\u2019s \u201cjoyous discovery.\u201d According to a 2011 study from the University of Oxford, laughter triggers the release of mood-boosting endorphins and increases an individual\u2019s pain threshold by as much as 10 percent. In 2005, researchers from the University of Maryland School of Medicine found that laughter increased blood flow by about 22 percent. It\u2019s no wonder that Dr. Michael Miller, the study\u2019s principal investigator, recommended \u201c15 minutes of laughter on a daily basis.\u201d Hey, can I get a prescription for that?<\/p>\n

Still, most evidence of laughter\u2019s deep-rooted benefits is anecdotal. Take Debra Hart, a nurse, lay minister and member of the Association for Applied and Therapeutic Humor<\/a>. In 1997, Debra found herself alone in a church parking lot, contemplating suicide. She was overwhelmed with grief after the death of a close friend. In the midst of her pain, something remarkable happened. \u201cAs I was thinking about ending my life, a joke popped into my head.\u201d It was a joke she\u2019d heard at church about a man sitting on top of his roof during a flood. A group in a rowboat comes by and offers to help him, but the man replies, \u201cGod\u2019s going to save me.\u201d A motorboat arrives, followed by a helicopter. The man\u2019s response is the same. Finally, the waters rise and the man drowns. When he gets to heaven, he asks God, \u201cWhy didn\u2019t you save me?\u201d God replies, \u201cI sent a rowboat, a motorboat and<\/em> a helicopter!\u201d<\/p>\n

Something inside Hart clicked. Laughter bubbled out<\/a>, releasing her pain and sorrow. \u201cI kept thinking that I didn\u2019t want to die and hear God say, \u2018I sent you a motorboat!\u2019\u201d Hart says with a laugh. She called a psychiatrist and entered counseling. In the 20 years since, Hart has made \u201cmirth-filled laughter\u201d the focus of her work.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s the kind of authentic laughter that makes your stomach ache,\u201d Hart says. \u201cSeveral studies suggest that this specific type of laughter can raise your good cholesterol and even lower your blood sugar.\u201d That\u2019s one reason many people have started to practice laughter therapy<\/a>, which teaches them how to use laughter to release tension.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you can laugh, then you\u2019re breathing,\u201d Hart says. \u201cWhen you take that breath, you\u2019re reconnecting with the world. And with God.\u201d<\/p>\n

I thought back to my cousin\u2019s wedding cake. How I knew, on some level, that things would be okay as long as I could laugh. Father Martin was right. Laughter isn\u2019t just a biological reaction. It\u2019s a divine gift.<\/p>\n

Why do we laugh? Because we\u2019re created to.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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