Ministry of mirth

Another title would be "Laughter the best medicine".

Laughter is so beneficial that there is even a World Laughter Day in May, when happy folk gather to have a good old chortle.

Laughter engages every major system in the body. A joyful belly laugh can exercise every muscle, nerve and organ in the torso. If you are able to sustain a belly laugh for a full hour you can laugh off up to 500 calories.

There is a move called "Patch Adams" which tells the true story of a doctor who treated his patients by making them laugh.

Laughing can protect against colds and viruses. It can help fight cancer. It is the flip side to stress. It reduces allergic responses, including hay fever and can be a useful aid in the fight to stop smoking.

The best time to get the giggles is between 6am and 7am so that you are then kept in good spirits throughout the day when your body is energised and charged with happiness.

There is much more about this subject at www.laughternetwork.co.uk and www.happiness.co.uk.

"Ministry of Mirth" is the title of a book by Brother Craig of the Community of the Monks of Adoration (www.monksofadoration.org). Here is an article by Brother Craig:

We need to laugh more. We need more humor in our lives. I'm always saying that and people are surprised—because I'm a monk. They expect me to say something more serious. They don't expect me to encourage laughter and humor. They expect me to talk about silence. But a few years ago I started "Mirth Ministry." I did it because I kept noticing that many people are very stressed, are really tense (I've been wondering lately—is stress and tension the same thing? I tried to figure it out but it tired my head so I gave up.) I see books, tapes, videos and programs on how to relieve stress and get rid of tension. Many of these seemed quite good.
One can hardly open any magazine without finding an article about stress and tension. Okay, I exaggerate, but not much. Maybe as a Catholic monk, having lived in a peaceful atmosphere in a monastery at the edge of the woods in Massachusetts, I notice these things more. I don't know. Maybe having lived in the pleasant, small New England town of Petersham gave me a setting that, by contrast, helped me see such frenzy and frazzle in big cities. When do I notice all this? I do some public speaking. I travel to give talks. Anyway, I've become very aware and, I hope concerned, about all the stress and tension in peoples' lives.
So a few years ago I started offering talks on something I thought could help people cope with stress and lessen tension—humor. I did some research. I learned much. I read that many doctors, nurses, psychologists and clergymen were using humor to help people physically, emotionally, psychologically and spiritually. I learned there were even associations concerning the benefits of humor. I joined several. I went on to write a book called "Humor Helps!" (Woodbridge Press) and my humor column "Oh, Brother!" is in Grit magazine. I did a couple of videos. But mostly I have given many talks to groups on the benefits of humor. I try to make the talks funny. The audiences laugh. Well, most of them.
More than ever I'm convinced that a light-hearted attitude towards life's problems and difficulties is a good one to have. Recently a dear friend died from cancer. This friend worried constantly. I'm sure that helped cause his death.
By having a lighter, humorous and even comical response to problems we'll be better able to cope with them. Some people might say that things aren't that simple. If people think that offering humor as a response to difficulties is silly that doesn't bother me. I'll just laugh.
These days everyone seems to have become so serious, so uptight, so worried, so politically correct which is just a way of having more things to worry about. Could all of us be happy for a little while? Could we take things lighter? Why can't we smile throughout the day? I think we should give it a try.
John Morreall, Ph.D, director of Humorworks wrote something interesting in his book "Taking Laughter Seriously" (State University of New York Press.) He claims, "The person who has a sense of humor is not just more relaxed in the face of a potentially stressful situation, but is more flexible in his approach." Flexible, that's good. That's what we should all strive to be.
When I started doing my humor ministry a reporter asked me why I was doing this. I told him the truth. God wants us to lighten up. He wants us to be joyful, cheerful and happy. He's loving and merciful and He wants what's best for us—joy, cheerfulness and happiness are best. God loves us. He wants our lives free of stress, tension and anxiety. So I guess I'm a monk with a mission.
Lisa Rosenberg, psychologist and nurse at Chicago's Rush-Presbyterian-St.Luke's Medical Center tells us, "Humor is not just about laughing at a joke. It is a perspective about life. It's an emotional release, and it allows you to continue to function in stressful situations." Ain't it the truth? We need help to function in stressful situations—humor or a comical attitude can be that help. Next time you're in a stressful situation say or do something funny, something comical. Really, try it.
Years ago Norman Cousins told the world that the serious collagen disease that he had been be cured by laughter. It worked for him. Stress, the disease of our age, should be treated with laughter, too. No, it's not easy to laugh or be funny when you are stressed, but just try it. Trust me, it works. Or as Sid Caeser, the funniest man ever, said, "Laughter is a great release."
We watch the news, we read the newspaper and we feel ill. Maybe someone should tell a joke in the middle of the news. Or readers of newspapers could send in funny stories to be printed in between the hard (and harsh) news. Simple suggestions. Too simple, no one will accept them. Someone will say, "Get real, monk. Air time and print space are valuable and must be dedicated to their primary mission: making people miserable."
I don't know about you, but I don't think life is very easy. Everyday here at the monastery I learn from letters, phone calls and e-mails about people who are very ill or have serious problems. They contact us for prayers. Their needs remind me that life is hard, has plenty of suffering. I think we need to help ourselves and not let the difficulties of life get us down. Humor can help us.
Raymond A. Moody, Jr., M.D. wrote a book called, "Laugh After Laugh: The Healing Power of Humor" (Headwater Press). In it he writes, "Laughter makes one expansive in outlook and very likely to give the feeling that the future need not be the subject of quite so much solicitude [read: anxious, stressful worry!] as is usually allowed for it." This good doctor goes on to tell us that laughter makes us less prone to "dreads." That's an interesting word. I think a lot of people suffer from dreads. Laughter could help. Give it a chance.
I think one reason people hesitate or forget to employ humor is because we tend to think, wrongly, that all humor must be fall-on-the-floor funny. There is the mildly funny. The cheerfully humorous. There is the light-hearted which is often also warm-hearted. There is humor that makes us chuckle. Betty White, kindly responding to my request for a "blurb" about my book wrote, "I got some good laughs and many, many smiles." Humor that makes us smile is also needed.
When I first started doing humor people asked me—"How can a monk be so funny?" The question didn't surprise me. I'd heard a similar question years before—"How can such a funny guy become a monk?" I can't win. But that doesn't matter. I hope I'm cheering up a few people. Maybe I can encourage a few people to add more humor and laughter to their lives.
Also, I can pray. I pray that people will lighten up, that they'll laugh more, that they'll give humor a more important place in their lives. These are my prayers. Of course, I pray cheerfully and laugh a little while I'm praying!